Typhoon Frank

Typhoon Frank brought major damage when it hit the country last Saturday.  


It took me an hour to get a ride home after my shift good thing a friend of mine stayed with me until a jeepney came to my rescue. I'm still lucky that the flood has already subsided it usually goes up to 2 feet in our area when it rains. There's still a power outage due to strong winds when I got home so I can't cook my food my I decided to eat out instead. Thank God the weather is okay now, the sun's out. 


A flood visited our house here Antipolo during the height of the storm last week so I decided to check if anything got damaged or something buts so far everything looks okay. We don't have Internet access in Shaw, good thing we still have it here so I'm able to can check my email. Mom swing by earlier and had my cousin cook food for lunch so I'm still kinda stuffed. My mom's the sweetest, she just doesn't know that she is hehe. My parents are going back to Baguio later today and I'm not sure when they will be back again. 

Good to Go

I bought my niece an Asus netbook last week so she can use it for school. It came with a Linux operating system but a friend of mine did me a favor and installed Windows XP. I find it complicated to install programs on a Linux system for some reason, to be honest. 


I had the unit replaced because the OS got corrupted I'm not sure if installing Windows caused it to crash but it' have it up and running now. It's fully functional so to speak. I'm able to use it to surf the Internet, I added some programs that she can use too. 


I'm just counting the days and I'll be moving on with my life in another company. I just can't wait any longer because I can't keep up with the high volume of calls coming in every day, it's way too much. The thought of working 11 hours every day is driving me insane. 

Way to Go David Cook

I had an appointment with the dentist earlier to finish the light cure treatment for the rest of my teeth, It still hurts a bit. I'm very patient when going to the dentist even if it's a pain to keep my mouth wide open for about an hour. 

I was watching American Idol this morning in Star World I didn't know that the show is live I think I missed half of it already but it will be aired again tonight so I'll make sure to watch it again even if I already knew that David Cook won. I thought David Archuleta's performance last night was better than David Cook but I've always wanted David Cook. to win and I'm glad that he did. 

My sister said few weeks ago that David Archuleta will win AI. I even want to make a bet for P500 that David Cook's gonna nail it but she refused maybe she have doubts hehe. 

I fell in love with David Archuleta's version of Ryan Gilmore's "In this Moment." David Cook's acoustic version of "The World I know" by the alternative rock band Collective Soul almost had the audience in tears, it was rather emotional. As expected, David Cook won by a landslide of 56% votes over 44% of Archuleta. 

The rest of the final 12 finalists had their share of the stage as well, the all sung George Michael's "Freedom." Jason Castro's really cute in his coat and tie. I thought I saw Paula Abdul cried over George Michael's song I'm not sure if it's tears of joy or sadness or just mixed emotions because Season 7 is over? Simon Cowell owe David Cook an apology for his comment last night that he should've sung "Billie Jean" or "Hello" instead of a new song during the third round because I think David Cook can sing whatever he wants. The "Singer's Choice" round is about personal choice after all. Simon apologized for being disrespectful to him to clear the air. David Cook applauded for David Archuleta, he's such a good sport and it's very sweet of David Cook to do that for him. David cried after he learned that he's the new American Idol.

Well done.

Nature's Wrath

Here comes the rain again. There was a blackout in our area last Friday I had no choice but to do my makeup by the candlelight, it was rather difficult. The power came back just before I left for work (oh great) at least I was able to check if my face look okay. 

I hate it when the weather is being like this, it gets too hot and when it rains, it rains a lot. This whole climate change is getting worst. Poor mother earth, she's been abused too much already I hope it's never too late to save her. 

Few days ago, a cyclone hit Myanmar. I learned about it from a friend when she sent me pictures of the said tragedy via email. It was devastating to see corpses everywhere I can't get it out of my head. Many of the victims are children. According to the news, roughly 133,000 people has been reported dead or missing. 

On Monday the 12th, a huge earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.8 hit Wenchuan, China. Officials estimated death toll went up to over 50,0000. More than 80% of the structures near the quake's epicenter collapsed that trapped a lot including possible survivors. It's scary to think that we can't do anything with nature's wrath but we can help in our little way by giving donations and praying for them. 

Bye Now Jason

Jason Castro got eliminated from American Idol but it's no surprise to me after his performance last night. If bob Marley is still alive I'm sure he will not be amused with Jason's cover of his song "I Shot the Sheriff." I totally agree with Simon and Randy that there's nothing special about it. I was hoping that he will be able to redeem himself on his second song but he fumbled on the lyrics of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" it was quite a disaster to be honest. Jason's cute and charming but vocally he's not as astounding as the two Davids. 

I thought Syesha will go home and Jason will stay since she's always in the bottom 2 or 3 but she did good last night that. Jason have gone this far for sure there's a bright future ahead of him. Poor Jason he must be really tired of the whole competition already that's why he looked so relieved and ready to go home. 

So who will be the next American Idol? For sure it'll be one of the Davids but we'll see. 

Sagada Getaway

Manila to Baguio

Baguio can't wait. We left Manila at 12:30AM via Victory Liner bus. A 7-hour trip was a pain in the butt. Watching movies and listening to music kept us company. We had a few stop-overs. We arrived past 6PM. Finally. 

Sagada here we come

Our elder brother drove us to town to accompany our sister to school for her law review class at the University of the Cordilleras. From there we rode an fx to Dangwa, Sagada's bus terminal to catch an early trip, unfortunately, it's almost full so we decided to wait for the next trip at 9:30 AM. Lizardo bus left on the dot. My sister brought the travel guide she printed out from the Internet which helped us a lot find a place to stay in Sagada. We had a great view of Benguet mountains on our way to Sagada especially when we're going up the in the boonies. we also sawrice and vegatable terraces. It was a long and winding road it gets scary as we're getting close. There are rough and narrow roads and believe me, I'm not really afraid of heights but when I saw we're literally on top of the mountains, I got nervous I thought it's the end of me so I prayed really hard that we make it to Sagada safely. Thank God we got there safely and found a nice place to stay.

Sagada Guest House

We arrived in Sagada past 4 in the afternoon. We're kinda hesitant at first to stay at the Sagada Guest House because we originally wanted to stay at the Log Cabin but we got tired from the trip we didn't wanna go any further so we chose to stay at Sagada Guest House.

Sagada Guest House is not so inviting from the outside. The building looks new but it needs some fixing. When the caretaker showed us the only vacant room available we had second thoughts. The rate was rather expensive for my sister and I along with our parents so we haggled. It was a big room with 1 king size bed and 3 singles. There's cable TV so you need not worry about getting bored during your stay however when it rains in the afternoon the cable signal gets interrupted. The kitchen is spacious it comes with kitchenware and a stove for cooking. By the way, I didn't realize that there are no ATM machines in Sagada and establishments don't accept credit cards good thing we have cash handy.

Yoghurt House

After an hour of rest, we had dinner at Yoghurt House which is known for their yummy yogurt. We ordered clubhouse sandwich, chop suey and yogurt of course. There are lots of yogurt toppings to choose from but I prefer yogurt with strawberry preserves. Other toppings available are banana, granola, strawberry, etc. Their yogurt is made of thick cream that tastes almost like cream cheese if not for its sweetness. Yogurt is a healthy alternative to ice cream and definitely good for digestion. My sister took pictures of the food and the place. It's really cozy and homey. I think it's a house converted into a little restaurant. I love the beautifully decorated ceiling, colorful lamps and old pictures of locals hanging on the wall. It was a really cool place.

Thanksgiving at Church of SMV





It's our 28th birthday. We heard mass as at the church of St. Mary the Virgin. The place is very peaceful you can hear birds chirping. Some cows are just roaming freely outside the church. It also not crowded unlike in Baguio cathedral. We attended the mass spoken in Ilocano I thought we might have missed the English mass or we're just too early. Locals sing in A capella it makes the mass even more solemn. The locals are friendly, they smile while saying "peace be with you." We also took pictures outside while breathing some fresh air.


Birthay Breakfast at Masferre

I really love taking pictures and looking at old photographs. What I first noticed at Masferre are the framed pictures of Igorot people on hanging on the walls. Picture taking is not allowed as posted on the wall so we discreetly took pictures of ourselves and the place good things they're too busy preparing our food. We're given ripe mangoes as an appetizer and ordered "country farm meal" made of wheat bread, butter, bacon, egg, tomato, lettuce, and cucumber. The serving was huge and the food was yummy.


Echo Valley's Hanging Coffins and Lumiang / Burial Cave

If you're a first timer in Sagada, you're required to register as a tourist at the municipal hall for a guided tour. We paid Php40.00 as initial payment and was later accompanied by a tourist guide to our first destination which is Echo Valley. We had a very little view of the hanging coffins. The reason behind why it was called Echo Valley as explained by our tour guide is because if you scream, your voice will echo in the air. I was like, uhm okay because I thought there's a more profound reason but hey no big deal. Our next stop is at the Burial Cave where we come face to face with century old coffins. The walkway down the hill was quite difficult. It's very steep and slippery so we're extremely cautious and a bit nervous. When we saw the entrance of the cave I realized that it was all worth it. We stayed for a few minutes and took pictures of the ancient wooden coffins. The tedious part was going up especially if you're short legged like me. Each step was agonizing, I nearly hyperventilated we forgot to bring water. We had to stop every few steps thank goodness we were able to reach the top. We couldn't manage to walk back to the municipal hall anymore, our knees were shaking so we asked for a ride home from our tour guide. We paid a total of Php650.00 for the guided tour. Whoa.

Birthday Surprise

Our birthday isn't over yet. My twin and I got really tired from the tour so we decided to stay at the guest house room while our parents went out to buy food. They brought us pancit and ice cream from Masferre for lunch. I love Masferre's pancit, it was very tasty. When it's time for dessert I was surprised when I opened the ice cream container and found out that it's nothing like Brazo de Mercedes at all but iced water. We laughed our hearts out but we can't have iced water for dessert so mom hurried back to Masferre to have the ice cream replaced with the real thing.


Farewell Sagada

It's still dark when we left Sagada Guest House. I got a little scared being followed by a group of dogs I thought they want to bite me. I can't help but get paranoid sine I was bitten by our own dog once when I was a kid. I realized that these dogs aren't as bad as I thought them to be, maybe they just want to say goodbye and thank us for coming to their peaceful town. The bus left at 5 in the morning. When the sun is up I again saw the breathtaking view of the mountains. I'm not sure if I will come back again in Sagada but I hope so.

Mission Accomplished

I can't wait to buy a Shemagh scarf (a.k.a. shmag, keffiyea, ghutra, yashmag, Arabian scarf, balabal for Pinoys, etc.) so I went to Quiapo church and scoured every corner but couldn't find one. I hope I have it already before my trip to Sagada because I plan to use it when I travel and I really like it a lot. I almost gave up I thought maybe I'll just buy pirated DVDs just to bring something home. 


I decided to go inside Quiapo church and ask help from the Black Nazarene to find the shemagh scarf I'm looking for. Believe it or not, my prayer was answered immediately because as soon as I went out of the church the lady in the corner of Carriedo Street approached me and asked what I was looking for so I told her that I 'm looking for a scarf. She asked one of her colleagues to accompany me to the stall that sells lots of colorful shemaghs. I had a hard time choosing the best one if only I can have them all. Prices vary according to the quality of the fabric. The thicker ones are more expensive so I picked the cheapest ones around Php180 and haggled for 150 but the sales lady closed the deal at 170. I did not complain anymore but was surprised that the change for my 1k is P420 which means that since I bought 4 shemaghs they gave it to me for P145 each, yay! I'm not really good in haggling but I guess the trick is to buy more so you pay less. Mission accomplished.


I head over to Victory Liner Bus terminal in Edsa to reserve Deluxe tickets for our trip to Baguio on Friday so the travel time will be shorter unfortunately, the Deluxe bus is already full, the only available time is for the 11:30PM trip so I thought I'll just reserve for the non-deluxe bus and just endure the 7 hour trip. 

American Idol

What's up with me? I'm addicted to American Idol for some reason. 


I didn't care about the show before until I heard that a Filipina made it to the top 12. Aside from Ramielle Malubay, I find Jason Castro quite interesting with his dreadlocks and all, he's kinda cute for me.  After Rockstar INXS or Supernova here I am watching future pop stars hehe. I'm glad that the show is now more open to format rock because music is for everyone right? 


 Last night's featured artist was Mariah Carey. David Cook rocked "You Will Always Be My Baby" and I agreed with Paula Abdul when she said that his version sounded like a movie soundtrack. another David, David Archuleta's vocal range is amazing as always while Jason Castro is adorable no question about it. The worst performer of the night was Brooke I'm not sure what is she still doing in AI, I hope she'll be gone soon. She's a pretty face but it's a talent competition. I'm hoping that all 3 guys make it to top 3 since one of the ladies impressed me so far.

Way to Go Jason

Jason Castro's version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was pretty good last night. He played a "ukulele" this time. Wiki says that this stringed instrument is commonly associated with music from Hawaii, where the name roughly translates as "jumping flea". It was developed there in the 1880s, based on several small guitar-like instruments introduced to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese sailors. 

The song is just perfect for him and i'm glad he played using a ukelele for a change. I'm rooting for him to win AI hopefully  he'll get even better in the coming weeks. 

Ramielle's Last

It's sad to know that Ramielle Malubay got eliminated too soon from American Idol. Most people were surprised to see her go but after watching her performance last night, I'm convinced that it was not her best. 


Ramielle is undeniably talented and cute being the shortest and one of the prettiest among the ladies but I'm afraid that her Dolly Parson song choice  "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind" didn't suit her voice and character. She gave her all. All of them will have to face the same ordeal of getting eliminated anyway it's just too bad that her time came sooner. To Ramielle fans out there, it's time to move on. She may not be the next American Idol but in the future, she can be more than that. 


Btw, I didn't know about her controversial photos until I saw it today from this blog:
http://www.jpsimbulan.com/2008/03/07/american-idol-2008-scandal-and-ramielle-malubay/. 


I thought it was something scandalous but it's nothing like that, really. Looks like just some girl and her friends showing off their boobies. They're not naked or anything. It's even a surprise to me since she grew up in the U.S. Give this girl a break she's only human, she's not born to be a saint. 

Ramielle Malubay and Jason Castro

Oh well, I still have a reason to watch the show. This time I'll be rooting for Jason Castro hopefully he'll make it at least to the top 3. He's kinda cute, I love his hippie style and singing of course. Jason's voice is not exceptional, to be honest, but really soothing. He surely knows how to rock hard on the drums I've seen the video of his band "Charlemagne" in Youtube he's a totally different person when he plays the drums it's kinda like what we see on American Idol is just the sweet side of him. 

Manila Ocean Park Experience

My sister and I treat our family for some fish watching yesterday at the Manila Ocean Park. I honestly thought that the experience wasn't that great. I guess I'm expecting too much of the place or something.

We arrived past noon and bought tickets immediately. It took us 15-20 minutes just to buy tickets which is just acceptable since we arrived not to early anyway getting inside was quite painful, it was rather disorganized. Everyone's starting to get pissed off thank heavens their marshals were able to straighten things up. We're in the verge of giving up and think about just letting it go, we're getting tired and hungry since we never had lunch yet. After almost an hour we're finally inside the Oceanarium and somehow felt relaxed after seeing different kinds of beautiful fishes. The view of Manila bay was breathtaking. Here's a footage I took inside the oceanarium.