How I'm spending my life.. Part 4

Marian is the master of multitasking. Here she is both sleeping and studying :

Here is another picture of her getting a facial while sleeping and studying AND doing the laundry :Isn't she awesome? The next day, she told me that she's the only one who got the perfect grade on her process training quiz. Life is weird and unfair.

How I'm spending my life.. Part 3

I love rain. I love staring at it. I love the feel of it on my face. I even used to tilt my head back and drink the rain water.. But that was until I learned it contains toxins, some dead stuff and herpes. But still.. I think it's beautiful. 

My apartment's view kinda reminds me of home. Super thick fog. Awesome. It feels like heaven without the dry ice. My family lives on the mountains of Cebu. We've always been mountain people. The whole clan is on the mountains of Zamboanga. I used to wake up to this every morning. Of course, my mom would have to drag me to the bathroom to take a bath in freakishly icy waters. But still... I love rain.

How I'm spending my life.. Part 2

Ok. A little birdie (Aisa.. bleh.. kaw may kasalanan nito) asked me how I or Marian could stand staying with the same person for years. Seven long years, in fact. So this got me into thinking. And I swear I was there (most of the time) in that relationship. She will slap you silly if you zone out in the middle of her story. Hmmm.. I'm not attractive either. I still have to stalk a person endlessly until I scare her into just giving up and giving in to a single date. I never heard of anybody hunting down somebody because of me. But I do know someone who bawled like a baby over Marian. So.. How the hell did a simple i-like-your-shoes-that's-why-i'm-staring-at-you-you-idiot end up to living and loving together years after?

How did I endure going to Divisiora even though I'm seriously allergic (keel over and die kind of serious) to dust (ew. floating dead cells and pulverized dead stuff)?

How come I never learn whenever she says "it will only take a minute" when it comes to shopping?

And why the fuck did she not shoot herself every time I yelp at her to come quickly -- only to find that I need saving from my already-neck-deep-in-everyday-idiocy butt? (But it was valid! I swear! One of those life or death shit!)

She would rather die than be seen in a non color coordinated outfit. So.. How come she never fusses about my costume deficiency and my conscious willingness to wear a red shirt, orange shorts and seriously hot pink slippers (sexxyyyhhh)?

Is it because I liked the same ice cream flavor since I was 3? Hardly.

Is it because I like tickling her even after she has little squirts of pee in her panties?

Is it because she actually likes to pee in her panties?

Sshhiitttt................. Are we soul mates?

Is there even such a thing as soul mates?

Is it because of the cuddles we share until we fall into deep salivating slumbers?

Is it because she thinks I'm hot? OOohhhh... *wink wink*

Is it because I can peel a perfect santol?

Is it because I have 57 ways to eat spaghetti?

Is it because she is allowed to sing Brittney Spears songs without making me twitch?

Is it because I can bite into ice without flinching?

I can go on and on and on, you know.

Then it dawned on me.
I love her. Simple, huh?
I also know that I can stand at least 10 more years of carrying shopping bags for her.. (unless she leaves me for someone who can carry more than 20 shopping bags at a time)
The seven lonnngggg years does not seem that long at all. It just suddenly becomes a friggin' number.

To Koi :
Please be safe. My whole life is with you. Seriously. Please look both ways before crossing a road.

Poohkwang

We watched this show last June something. It was supposed to be their last show but people can't seem to get enough of those two that they decided to extend the show to infinity. Or until they run out of jokes and stuff.

The Music Museum. Meh. Very fancy name but the place is definitely not that "fancy". If you're claustrophobic, you'd better get the seats in the middle or on the balcony. You really should start trusting me.

During the show, there were definitely more than a few laughs.. and dance numbers.. and splits.. and air splits (imagine Pokwang with her legs wide open while on top of her dancers). I love those two together. Funny as hell.

I'd never thought I'd say this but.. Pokwang is.. sexy. Yeah. Sexy....... O.o
My body usually twitches when I lie but I can definitely say this with a straight-non-twitching face.

So.. In spite of the venue, you should totally watch as many reruns or comebacks or extensions or whatever.

(Jed Madela. One of Marian's favorite singers. Excuse my camera. The whole place was smoke-y-ish.)

How I'm spending my life..

I know this is supposed to be a travel blog of sorts. But this is my blog after all. That means I can put anything I want here. Unless google wants me to take something out. So. Bleh.
This is Marian. And this is what happens when you take out your camera phone and take pictures of her.

(At the airport. Hundreds of people around. She does not shy away from the camera.)

(This is what happens when you turn on the AC and it suddenly rains outside. You wake up frostbitten because she is hoarding 3 pillows and the comforter. Yeah. That's her nose. She still has to breathe after all.)

(She loves fresh sheets. I think she has a thing for pillow heads.)

P.S. - Marian. Please don't kill me for this one. I swear I won't tell them that you snore.

Maayong Palawan : The Adventure

Ok. The secret to a successful relationship is to know when to shut up and to realize that when she's ranting about stuff, all she really wants is a hug. So, for our seven years of hugs, we decided to spend it in Palawan.

Touchdown. The moment she stepped out of the plane, she asked me to take a picture. While lugging 3 bags on my shoulder (and since it was our anniversary after all), I took a picture. And then another. And still another. For "documentation" purposes, of course. No complaints there. I think we spent 30 minutes just taking shots of her stepping off the plane. Note : Don't believe a word she says when it comes to photos.

(Sneaky sneaky woman with her sneaky sneaky smile)

So after the photo shoot, we deposited our stuff in our room at Liberty Park and settled all the tour fees. With our already pale and starved faces, we headed straight to Balinsasayaw Restaurant. It's actually a neat place. I did enjoy eating in nipa huts and their food was not bad at all. It also didn't hurt that we only paid P500 for fresh crabs, shrimps and buko juice. Yum.
The city tour was scheduled after our lunch. There were also 2 other couples with us. One Pinoy couple and the other was Korean. They're very nice people and we had fun touring with them. First stop was the "Bay". Very much like the Manila Bay here except that it used to be a squatters' area and they were relocated to a much much better home. It makes you wish you were a squatter there.
Next stop was the Cuartel which was right next to the Cathedral. The tour guide explained that the Cuartel had an underground tunnel that was used by a couple of guys to escape the prison and stuff. There were also people who were burned there. I wasn't really listening. I was distracted by 'someone' who was poking me to get a better picture of the tunnel.
After that, we went to the Crocodile Farm. While waiting for our turn, we entertained ourselves with their pasalubong center. They had everything from wood carvings to t-shirts. When we finally got inside, we saw this huge croc skin. Apparently, the croc whom the skin belonged to ate a man. Crocs are pretty huge. This one was only half of its potential size. Un-fucking-believable. I definitely do not want to pee in those waters.

(meh.)

(This was the head part of a sperm whale. It may not look like much but it occupied half of the room.)

We proceeded to the hatchling house. The whole house was filled with these :
We went outside to be greeted by these :
And these :
She was clinging to me all the way to the end of the puny walk way but you'll never guess it in this picture :

Next stop was the Iwahig Penal Colony. This is where the inmates just roam around to till the soil and make cool souvenirs. The prisoners are generally friendly in spite of the big burly figures with full body tattoos. You just couldn't (and shouldn't - for obvious reasons) say 'No' when they approach you to sell their stuff. I think the Pinoy couple bought enough key chains to give out to all the people in their place. One of the inmates caught a snake the other day. Here is the proud owner goofing around with his pet snake :
There's something incredibly green about this picture. I just can't put my finger on it. Anyway, next stop was the butterfly farm, then Mitra's ranch and last one was the Baker's Hill. Tip : Never buy accessories there. You can hoard bags of cashew nuts, ube hopia, and pastillas.. but just forget about the accessories. They have a 100% mark up. Dodge the heartache and just go to the public market. Trust me. They can sniff out losers and sell you a P100 necklace for P200.

(sucker)

(Mitra. Poor guy with no privacy.)

(Baker's Hill - mini Disneyland)

Dinner was at Ka Lui's. You have to reserve for a table though. Their place is really homey - that is if you grew up in nipa huts. But it's a really nice place though. The seafood is also fresh - as expected. We just got the P300 meal that was already good for two.

(This was Marian's reaction when she saw the small servings for the meal we ordered. But she quickly changed her mind when she realized that she was already full and could barely finish the grilled blue marlin.)

Underground River Tour.
The next day, we woke up early in the morning for our 3 hour dirt road trip to Sabang's underground river. I honestly don't know what the people were complaining about. Their 'rough' road was not that rough. I've had rougher roads before. Have you ever been to Malapascua in Cebu? That was THE GOD of rough roads. My head kept bumping the car top. I had bald spots. Thank God for whoever invented seat belts. I digress again. Anyway, the ride was pretty cool. We saw gigantic trees, monkey families on the side of the road, and a lot of road kill (flattened snakes. gacckkk!). When we got to the pier, we hopped on a boat towards the river. The whole place is just breathtaking. I was a bit proud that we have a place such as this in the Philippines. Just don't forget your Off lotion.

(on the way there)

(smile.)

(cave entrance. When you look up, keep your mouth closed. There are stuff dripping from god-knows-where and there are bat shit.)

(I almost lost my head here. I kinda forgot to duck.)

(just one of the millions of rock formations there)

(Picture time with bat shit on my shorts. The water was a bit murky because it rained yesterday. I'm thinking it could also be because of the tons of shit the bats are producing. The locals said that it's usually crystal clear. )

(Professional thieves. No matter how much you curse the furry things, you will never get your bag back. So don't bring your colorful plastic bags. Listen. It will save your life.)

During the ride back, everyone was sleepy. My dreams were rudely interrupted by a bump on the road followed by screams from my fellow travelers. Apparently, the driver drove over a huge monitor lizard and it was so angry that it decided to eat the whole van. Kidding. It was squashed to death immediately - raising the road kill count to 157.

Honda Bay
Ahh.. Beautiful beautiful beaches. Schools of colorful fishies even though you're just knee deep in water - if you have bread. If you don't, they'll just wiggle their butts away from you. I love this place. We only visited 3 islands though - it's actually more than enough. We went to Pandan, Snake and Starfish islands. We snorkeled our hearts out... with our life jackets, of course. We also pigged out on lobsters. It's only P400 per kilo after all.
There are more pictures but I think you can only stomach this one. The rest has weird poses and people in bathing suits. And some are for my eyes only - as well as all the boatmen that were watching. The island has sand bars that connects it to another island. If you do decide to visit, have fun exploring!

There are also a lot of restaurants here that are really cheap and with good food. We tried the famous Chao Long. It's a Vietnamese rice noodle. It's actually tasty but be careful while eating it. I stained my favorite shirt while eating this one. At night, their favorite hang out is Kinabuch. We never tried their specialty - 'tamilok' or wood worms. Cowards. You really should try it. It's a tough job but someone's gotta do it.

(Entertaining ourselves while waiting for our orders at Kinabuch.)

Ah. Palawan. I'm supposed to conclude the blog here but I can't think of anything right now. Just go and see for yourself.

Maayong Palawan : Facts

As you all know, I'm considerate. Reading about my life can cause brain malfunction. There are enough zombie people in this world.

Anyway, without further ado, here's the breakdown.

To Puerto Prinsesa :

• Airfare : about 3k each (back and forth). We were extremely lucky to get that zero something promo from Cebu Pacific. Do check their site if you want awesomely cheap plane tickets. Their airport is not as perrrty as PAL though. We always get PAL when we visit home. But now, I'm starting to prefer Cebu Pacific. Not because of their cheap flights and very small planes (It is a compliment. I swear. They will transform you into very good Christians for at least an hour. You'll even remember how to say the 'Our Father' even though you're a Protestant).. but because of their taxi stand. They have taxis lining up outside their airport. As for PAL, you have to be sharp and look out for little old ladies who will wrestle you to the ground and poke your eyes out just to win the cab. Seriously wicked place. But I digress. Back to the airfare. Yeah. Just 3k plus the 200 peso terminal fee.
  
• I'm pretty sure there's a boat to Puerto Prinsesa. But with the recent tragedy (Princess of the Stars), it's not really that wise, is it?
• Palawan's main transportation is the tricycle. It's only P7 per person wherever you're going. Cool.

Where to Stay :

• There are about a million hotels in Palawan. Just search the net and websites would pop out with all the info you'd need. We chose Liberty Park since it is new-ish (2 years old), has free airport pick ups and it's pretty cheap. It's only 1k per night. Their receptionists were also very accommodating.

• If you're not on a budget and if you plan to just stay at your hotel for the whole trip, I'd recommend Hotel Asturias. It looks like a classy place. I wouldn't mind being stranded there.

What to Do :

• Ok. We stayed there for 4 days and 3 nights. You can ask the receptionist to book the tours. We got the City Tour, Underground River Tour and the Honday Bay Tour. I'll go into details in my next post.

• City Tour - P600 each. You can actually do this by yourself. But if you're lazy, just pay for a tourist guide. Sheesshhh... P600 is actually pretty cheap for comfort. Fees are already included. Plus you'd feel safer with a tourist guide when you visit the Iwahig Penal Farm. Just trust me. I swear I'm telling the truth.

• Sabang or Underground River Tour - P1,500 each. For this one and the Honda Bay tour, if you're a group of 8 and above, maybe it would be cheaper to do this by yourself. But I still think it's too much of a hassle to arrange everything. The fee already includes lunch, entrance fees, rentals, and a licensed tour guide. It kinda beats having to wait in line and stressing out.

• Honda Bay Tour - P1,200 each. Inclusions are the same as the River tour. See? No need to worry about a thing. Just bring your sunblock lotion.

That's about it. Oh! Plus shopping. We spent our fourth day just shopping our heads off. Actually, my girlfriend spent the fourth day shopping her head off. I just spent it carrying plastic bags and groveling while she dragged me everywhere. Resistance is futile.