Category Archives: travel

Toasted

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I’m freaking toasted and my body hurts.

Kayaking for two hours. Photo by ArtCave.

I took several passengers with me while I paddled for two hours around the cove. My sister, who took the picture using the best of her Samsung’s zooming power, was praying that we don’t drift into the open sea. She thought we weren’t in control of the kayak but it’s just my mom and I were more adventurous than she thought.

Photo by CallMeCreation.com

First I took Twin A with me but she got tired and then we went back to shore after one lap around the cove. Then it was Twin I’s turn, who was more interested in the jetski-pulled water-something ride. Of course she can’t ride that because there is a height/age requirement. She was put out and didn’t want to kayak that far.

Photo by CallMeCreation.com

When it was my mom’s turn, she wanted to go farther. If only we could go near the cliffs, we would but we were warned that the rocks there are sharp and our kayak may get sliced.

So for two hours we just did laps around the cove and burned ourselves to a crisp.

Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I wasn’t able to bring the diving gear from the car, which was parked at the country club, which was a bit of a distance. So we decided to cool off at the country club pools. And got burned some more.

Diving forgotten. I slept the rest of the day. 🙄

Anyway, the corals aren’t great based on ocular inspection from above the kayak.

I was so tired that I fell asleep on this:

Comfy. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I’m going to get me one like this in our new home. âĪïļ

But of course this is hardly the best place to sleep if you just got toasted. Went to sleep inside our cold cave of a room in the two-bedroom condo we rented in Pico de Loro. Now, as a consequence, I wasn’t able to wake up in time for cycling around the lagoon.

But then I’m still tired, brown, and aching.

Today’s words of wisdom are brought to you by Instagram again.

Hmmmm

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Beach at Hamilo Coast. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Not impressed by the beach and yet the access to this entire resort complex is by membership only, ergo, expensive. 🙄 The beaches in Maricaban are much better than this…Bantayan island is 100x better.

Anyway, we lacked sleep so we didn’t attempt any freediving today plus there are jetskiing dudes around.

What my girls did is they buried their aunt alive to pass the time.

Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I just watched them from afar. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Somebody needs to watch the bags. Because mommy.

Need to sleep early tonight to adjust my body clock again. Tomorrow I will attempt to walk around the lagoon before kayaking and diving. Not really sure about the quality of diving here though.

Today’s life quotes are brought to you by Instagram Reels.

Hello, love

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Nasugbu, Batangas–Ternate, Cavite. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Nasugbu, Batangas–Ternate, Cavite. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I’m back to the sea âĪïļ

My kids enjoying the pool first. Overlooking the lagoon. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I’m still recovering from the 3-hr, caffeine-fueled drive along that long mountain pass where monkeys and cows freely roam.

Cows. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Taking my influencer shot.

It’s gonna rain. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Obstruction

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Yesterday morning, my neighbors’ cars were towed by the MMDA traffic patrol for obstruction of sidewalks. My neighbors’ landlady was so angry about the whole commotion, telling the traffic patrol group that they were not illegally parked because that was a designated parking area for her tenants. The problem, however, is that the parking slots were too short so the SUVs parked there ate up the sidewalk. So the video here showed some of my neighbors’ SUVs being towed away.

Whooops! They were towed again today.

Good thing I was parked inside the compound after my car repairs were done.

Meanwhile, the new national security advisor of Marcos Jr wants the US, Europe, and Japan to impose a trade embargo on us with her pronouncements. The witch.

As a lawyer-friend said: “You can’t possibly be neutral if you’re pivoting to one belligerent. The principal right of the neutral nation is that of inviolability; its principal duties are those of abstention and impartiality (the Hague III, Art 2, law on neutrality).”

The problem with these narcissists is that they think we are among the big guys that whatever we do has weight. Nope, we’re just mosquitos and trade embargoes will kill us.

I’ve loaded the food and drinks at the back of the car, the fins and snorkel sets, and the diving buoy. I’m busy packing now but my bossy cat, Kimchi, doesn’t want me to go.

Look at that angry face, Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I thought I could bring the bikes with us since we would be heading straight to my hometown after this. Nope. Our stuff wouldn’t fit.

Which brings me to the point that a sedan wouldn’t really do us any good since we usually go for outdoor stuff. We do a lot of driving and Philippine provincial roads do not play nice with cars with low clearance.

I saw this displayed at SM Marikina earlier this week and I thought it was roomy enough for us.

The two backseat rows fold flat for cargo, which is great because I haul bikes, a piano, and some furniture. More frequently than average people. Since I’m moving back to my hometown, I guess my sister-in-law and my nephew would be tagging along with us more often because my brother is lazy and doesn’t like driving.

But then again, this is the wrong time to be thinking about this. Probably when we have finally settled in our own home and we have emerged from the recession, I will revisit this Toyota Avanza.

I must finish packing.

Taking it easy

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Herbed chicken for dinner. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I was basically useless the whole morning since I was asleep most of the time. I’m sleepy still.

I fixed my container garden again after it was ravaged by the heat that battered us pre-election and election week. I pulled out the casualties and re-potted the new ones that I bought yesterday. Gardening is really therapeutic because you spend hours doing something with a blank brain. I’m still not satisfied with it so next week I’ll be adding more plants 😄

I got frustrated with the rain today that I decided to book 3 days, 2 nights in Pico de Loro. Rain or no rain, we will return to the sea. At least the rains would not be that disastrous at the beach compared to if we went camping.

Pico de Loro by Hamilo Coast.

I hiked this area (used to be called Hacienda Looc) in 1996 and it used to be surrounded by mangroves. It was a very beautiful and secluded paradise but at that time it was a scary moment because one wrong turn I faced an armed soldier…It’s ironic that I would be coming back to this area after 25 years as a guest of the land grabbers. ðŸĨī I’ll see if I can live with myself being here as part of the bourgeoisie set that fueled the land grabbing.

Anyway, I think I need to take a vacation leave during the week we would be here. After my trip to Singapore (if that would even push through), I think I deserve a break.

I saw in our group chat the photos of the other journos who went to have an after-party following our drinking session. The photos showed they haven’t broken up the party even if the sun was already high and bright and they were all sipping coffee. I was asked to join them before I went home at 11 pm but turned down the invite and said this tita is already dead and needs a bed. I could never do that kind of night out at this age. When I was younger, I was like that every week as I had all the energy and will. We even bar-hopped until the wee hours. I guess age really catches up with me and my priority right now is being comfortable. What I promised a friend who also attended the event last night was a lunch date because there are so many things we needed to catch up on.

two clear wine glasses with straws
Photo by Oleg Magni on Pexels.com

Hahaha! Now I get why there are those who “do lunches”: It’s because they could no longer do the cocktail hours.

I hate to say it but lunches and coffee dates are more preferable these days. 😂

S. Korea is starting to open up to tourists and I guess I can go to our Seoul office later this year. Japan has yet to follow, which is kinda frustrating because my multiple-year visa is already expiring in April next year.

Let me see first how my travel itinerary for the year shapes up. Getting OKs from London is really frustrating. Which reminds me, I have to battle it out tomorrow with bosses regarding my travels and coverage. ðŸĪŠ

In the meantime, I’m staring at this Sombrero island painting. Waiting for inspiration again…

Neko x gato x cat x pusa

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Kimchi. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Sometimes I often find myself wishing to be just a cat that can stretch out and not give a flying fuck about what is happening to the world. Like today. My mistake was I opened my Twitter and doom-scrolled. And found that there were two things that made me question if there is really intelligent life on earth.

So one lawyer got tired of all Marcos supporters harassing all opposition people so he wrote the central bank about the “legendary” Tallano Gold that they claimed made the Marcoses rich (and not from stealing from national coffers, which the whole world knows about). So he got a proper document disproving it. To shut up Marcos supporters and tell them no, Jr will not distribute the gold, and no, he will not “save” the Philippines using the legendary Tallano gold.

The signature of the general counsel was redacted for his protection, the letter/email sender said.

I told my friend who heads one of the units in the communications arm at BSP about this. She then forwarded this to their lawyers so that they can come up with a public/press release addressing this. Some banking reporters are already inquiring about this as well.

The idiocy is never-ending.

I don’t want to dignify the other heart-attack-inducing malicious thing involving a Cebu Pacific pilot, who is spreading lies, so I’m not recording it here. Even if Cebu Pacific already issued a statement regarding this, that pilot is not stopping. I sent screencaps and time stamps of his stupid comments (and is not remorseful of his lies) to the crisis PR head of the airline. A privacy lawyer already said that he is liable for his statements, aside from being libelous, it violates aviation protocols/privacy laws.

I should totally withdraw from from social media—but I catch my fast international markets news on Twitter. So how now? 🙄

A high school classmate who runs a travel company offered to shelter me if I find things unbearable. She sent me this photo of one of her tours. She said I can stay in one island in El Nido for a day and hop to the next islands in the next few days. Sounds like heaven.

El Nido, Palawan. My classmate’s photo.

I told her I will take that offer when the time comes. It’s just the timing is all wrong. So many things happening at work this time. I had to reject an application for a reporter position in Singapore because he/she is abroad and getting employment passes in Singapore is difficult at this time (or forever). So I need to have coffee dates with prospects so I can poach them. Annoying. My request for travel next month is not yet approved by HQ. I need to book my accommodation and flights now. I hate this system that my company imposed now, which makes things a lot slower. Before, the buck stops in HK so approvals are easier.

I just want to curl up and be a cat.

Later I will tackle this if I’m in the mood.

Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com

Can’t sleep.

I don’t know why. I thought I have already gone back to Philippine Standard Time after our Anilao trip. I even slept before 11 pm last night after I had a 1.5-hr deep tissue massage. Now I’m back to my former sleepless state.

It’s almost 4 am. I’m still alive. I’m so dead.