Day 3: Thailand Adventures (Part 2)

After the Nong Nooch stint, we asked our driver, Yom, to take us to Mini Siam which is another 30-minute drive from that enormous garden.

But while on the road, we saw something that caught our attention… an OUTLET SHOP!!! I felt my blood rushed and heart pumped faster (read: shopping panic attack). I instantly asked Yom to pull over for a while since I saw there were some familiar brands sold there like Levis and Adidas. But Yom suggested that we check out the other mall. He said much cheaper stuffs are sold there. We were kinda disappointed since it was a bit too “tiangge” looking. Since we haven’t had eaten yet, we instead decided to grab a quick lunch… at KFC! Where else?! LOL.

While we were trying to satisfy our hunger, I noticed something very delicious. Eto po…

Biglang naglasang lechon ang chicken na kinakain ko habang tinitingnan sya. Yummy indeed! LOL. I secretly took this pic using my phone camera. Hmmm… parang nagiging habit ko na yata ang maging paparazzi ng mga super hotta-hotta guys. Yikes!

After that grand ogling moment quick lunch, we met up with Yom and I insisted that he take us back to the first outlet shop that we saw. He gladly agreed.

It was just a quick shopping stint but we were able to buy some nice cheap stuff. Too bad, I wasn’t able to score a pair of Levi’s jeans as their styles were a bit different that those sold in Manila.

Then off we went to our destination… the Mini Siam!

Mini Siam, the miniature town, hosts facsimiles of several sacred places and important historical sites around Thailand. These miniatures are at the scale of 1 to 25. Located on the main highway of Pattaya, Mini Siam daily attracts busloads of tourists. When they look at these miniatures, they unwittingly appreciate these. Miniature realm of Mini Siam unfailingly fills one with joy.

– Pattaya.org.uk

Again, I will just let the pics show how much fun we had touring around Mini Siam…

Japan-japan pose with Mommy! Ang kulit! Hehehe!

Mas maarte talaga magpose si Mudra... nakakainis! Hehehe!

In case we won't make it to Paris... may picture na kami sa sa Eiffel Tower. Hehehe!

Merlion Galore!

Welcome to Egypt! 😛

The Roman Lola

Viva Italia!!!

Feeling happy! 😛

Chinese pose 😛

At last... may group pic! Hahaha!

Then suddenly, it started to drizzle. Bakit kaya ganun? It always rains whenever I travel. May balat ba ako or am I just the rain maker? 😛 But still, it didn’t stop us to take some more pics…

Muslim look... dvd, dvd kayo dyan! Hahaha!

Yellow bell, whehehe!

Raining na, pictorial pa rin! 😛

It poured harder so we opted to end our Mini Siam tour. We were only able to see parts of Asia and Europe. Too bad, we weren’t able to visit USA. I remember reading a book about traveling the world in 80 days. Oh well, here in Mini Siam, we were able to travel the world in 80 minutes. Beat that! LOL.

We left Mini Siam a little past 4 p.m. It took us some 2 hours to travel back to Bangkok… inclusive of heavy traffic. Yep yep, we were able to experience a bit of Thailand’s rush hour. But it wasn’t as bad as here in Manila. Infreshness, umuusad naman ang mga sasakyan dun kahit papano. Hehehe!

We asked Yom to drop us off at Siam Paragon (official na, fave mall ko na cya sa Thailand. hehehe!) so we could have dinner.

Apparently, I have a special agenda why I asked us to be taken back to the mall. I wanted to buy a new mini lappy… Sony Vaio, that is. Gadgets were much cheaper there in BKK. Too bad again though, the model that I was eyeing on don’t carry international warranty. Ang mura pa naman nya, THB 19,000 (around P27,000 or USD650). Sayang talaga, huhuhu!

Since I was too disappointed, there nothing left for us to do but to window shop and snap some shots…

That was the end of our day 3 in Thailand.

To be continued…

Day 3: Thailand Adventure (Part 1)

Oct. 26, 2009. We knew it’s gonna be a long day for us so we again started the day early. And this time, breakfast call time is 6:00a.m. While I was still busy blow drying my hair, I heard Len and Candy knocking at our door. Apparently, they were looking for Mommy as I heard them say, “Mommy, asan ka? May surprise kami sa ‘yo.” I peeked from the bathroom and saw them handling a gift to my Mom. It was the Chinese-inspired umbrella that Mommy has been asking me to buy. And they both said, “Happy birthday, Mommy! Ayan ang gift namin sa ‘yo.” Well, I guess my 2 friends overheard my conversation with Mommy about that umbrella when we were in Wat TriMit the day before. And so, they granted Mommy’s wish. My Mom jumped for joy and insisted that she’d bring the umbrella to Pattaya so she could have photos with it. Ganyan kababaw ang kaligayahan ni Mudra. She’s not so hard to please.

We went up the hotel resto and found there there aren’t much people there yet. Kami ang unang nakapila sa buffet table. As in ganun ka-aga! Hehehe!

At 7am, we’re all finished with breakfast syempre rice na naman para maraming baon sa tiyan and went down the hotel lobby to get a cab. We were lucky to have found one waiting at the hotel’s doorstep. We initially asked the driver to take us to Ekkamai where we’d take bus going to Pattaya. The driver, Yom, offered us taxi service for the entire day for THB2,500 (roughly P3,500 or USD75). It was kinda pricey as I have read from the net that average one-way fare would cost THB 1,000 (around P1,400 or USD30). We haggled for that price and Yom agreed. He just asked us to pay for all the toll fee that cost THB90 (around P130 or USD2.75). And from that time on, Yom, has become our official driver.

We intended to spend the entire day in Pattaya and visit two famous tourist spots, Nong Nooch Garden and Mini Siam. Yom suggested that we also go the Tiger Zoo as t’was also along the way. We didn’t allot budget for that but still we agreed. There nothing much to lose anyways.

It took us around 1 and a half hours to travel from Bangkok to Pattaya. Roads were a bit similar to that of Laguna. It’s funny because t’was like traveling from Manila to Sta. Rosa or Calamba.

At around 10am, we were already at the Tiger Zoo. I didn’t know what to expect from this place as I haven’t read anything about it from the net. But from the name itself, I bet there are Tigers and other animals. LOL. Entrance fee was priced THB 400 per pax (roughly P560 or USD12).

Having seen the Singapore Zoo, for me this was a bit too simple. Well, here are some snaps we took as when we entered the place.

Since we are a bit short of time and intented to check out the place for just an hour or so, we were only able to watch 2 shows: Crocodile Show and Pig Racing.

Crocodile Show

Pig Racing

After the shows and as we’re on our way back to meet up with Yom, we saw some other animals and took some pics with them…

Then, off we went to the next pitstop… Nong Nooch Garden.

It took us another 30 minutes to travel from Tiger Zoo to this 5-hectare garden and I tell you, it’s really worth the trip. Mommy was overly impressed how spectacular the garden was.

I’ll now let the pics prove Mommy’s amazement:

Since the place is way too huge, we had to take a shuttle service (at THB50) to at least see some major sections of the garden.

We were taken to the Cactus Sanctuary (not the official name, pauso ko lang yan! hehehe!) and French Garden. And here are our pics…

Cactus Sanctuary

French Garden

It was just a short 30-minute trip, inclusive of photo ops. We were then taken back to the shuttle bay.

Len really wanted to experience to ride on an elephant but I chickened out. So, she decided to pass on it instead. So we opted to have some light snack. Since we already knew that we’d miss the Elephant Show scheduled at 3pm, we  wandered a bit more and just took some interesting pics of elephants and other tourists as well…

… but these two really caught my attention,

Nalurkey naman daw ako sa heels at attire nitong dalawang babaitang ito! Di ko kinaya ang outfit nila! Hehehe!

At around 3 pm, we moved from this place for our next pit stop… the Mini Siam!

To be continued…

Day 2: Thailand Adventure

Oct. 25, 2009. We started our 2nd day early as we were scheduled for the half-day city tour (included in our travel package). At 7am, we were already on our way to the hotel’s restaurant longue located at the top floor. It was very nice and colorful. In fact, the first thing we did was… pictorial! What else?  Deadma sa gutom. Mas importante ang peykchurs! Hehehe! 

Kung maka-upo ako, akala mo akin ang sofa! Hehehe! But of course, hindi nagpalamang si Mudra. Kaya join sya sa next pic…

Candy and Len also had pictorials on the same spot…

After that quick photo op, we headed to the resto. It was very spacious and clean-looking.

And since it was buffet breakfast, eat galore ang drama namin! Good thing though the hotel offered a wide variety of choices. They have Asian and American breakfast served at the buffet tables. And of course, I opted for my usual kind of breakfast… rice kung rice!

Huli kang Winkie ka! Balik ka ng balik sa buffet table ah! Hehehe!

At exactly 8am, we went down the hotel lobby and met up with our tourist guide, Anne. We boarded a nice 10-seater coaster. First stop was the Wat Tri Mit Wit Thayaram (Bahala na kayong magbasa, di ko alam, how to properly pronounce. Hahaha!)… in english, Temple of the Golden Buddha. But one thing I know, Wat stands for Temple. So, expect to see nice structures, Buddha and some monks here…

Next stop, the Wat Pho, also known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.

Can’t figure much from this pic why it was called The Reclining Buddha? Then, take a look at this… 

Kinda huge, eh? And when I asked our tourist guide why this Buddha is like this, she just said, “It’s just a position. There are others standing and sitting. So, this one is in reclining position.” What a very intelligent answer! Why didn’t I think of that? LOL. But for your benefit, my dear reader friends, here is Wat Pho’s short background which I got from into-asia.com:

Wat Pho (วัดโพธิ์), or Wat Phra Chetuphon (วัดพระเชตุพน) as it is generally known to the Thais, is mainly famous for the huge Reclining Buddha statue it houses. At 20 acres large, it is the largest Wat in Bangkok, and is technically the oldest too, as it was built around 200 years before Bangkok became Thailand’s capital. However, today the Wat today bears virtually no resemblance to that originally constructed, as it was almost entirely rebuilt by Rama I when the  capital was moved to Bangkok. It holds the dual honors of having both Thailand’s largest reclining Buddha image and the most number of Buddha images in Thailand.

The highly impressive gold plated reclining Buddha is 46 meters long and 15 meters high, and is designed to illustrate the passing of the Buddha into nirvana. The feet and the eyes are engraved with mother-of-pearl decoration, and the feet also show the 108 auspicious characteristics of the true Buddha.

 

 

When we transferred at the back of this Buddha, Anne asked us to offer some money to the temple in exchange of wishes and prayers. According to her, that practice is called tamboon. I then asked Mommy to do that for all of us. So I got her THB20-worth of coins. And each coin must be dropped into a jar which was found along the pathway. I asked Mommy to ask only “important” wishes for me… that is, to have a boyfriend.

Mommy was too obidient that she asked a BF for me everytime she dropped coin inside those jars. My gulay, baka naman ulanin ako ng BF nyan sa dami ng jars na yan! Hahaha!

Shortly after that, we headed outside. We saw some other nice structures. It called for another photo op…

Then, off we went to the Jewelry Factory. Oh yes, it’s always part of the tour so they would entice tourists to buy expensive jewelry pieces. When we went to Singapore last year, we were taken to a similar shop and I got Mommy a pair of crystal earrings. But this time, Mommy was not able to convince me to buy her anything. *Winkie’s most evil laugh* 

So that was the short city tour. I wasn’t satisfied. I hope the tour package offered more and better places to see. What’s even worse was that our tour guide, Anne, no longer took us to a Thai restaurant for lunch. She instead gave us our lunch money so we could eat at whatever resto we want. So, I again wasn’t able to eat some authentic Thai cuisine.

We were all by ourselves the entire afternoon. And since it was a Sunday, Len and Candy suggested that we go Thailand’s famous weekend market, the Chatuchak Market. Since we are equipped with maps and some print out we got from the internet, going to Chatuchak was easy. We just rode a tuktuk which took us to the nearest BTS Sky Train Station. We needed to go to Mo Chit Station as that was the exit point going to the Chatuchak Market.

Thailand’s transport system is very nice and easy to follow. We were able to get to our destination in no time.

When we got inside and further down the market, I felt I was like in Divisoria and Tutuban… but way way bigger! As expected, lots of cheap stuffs were sold here. I wasn’t able to shop much for myself. But I did get some cheap authentic Wacoal undergarments. Yep, I learned that Wacoals (my brand) are way cheaper in Thailand. Kaya naman, panic ang drama ko. Wag na pics ah! Baka makita nyo pa itsura ng undergarments ko. Hehehe!  

It was darn hot inside the Chatuchak Market (read: parang nasa loob ng pugon sa init) and I felt different already. But my three other companions were still enjoying the shopping moments at that time so we continued on. We just spent 3 hours there as it become really hot and we all got tired of walking, browsing and haggling for discounts.

Len wanted to do some more shopping but I was too tired already. She went on to buy some more stuff while I opted to just rest. Di na talaga kaya ng powers ko kaya pati bangketa eh inupuan ko na lang…

Len came back after some minutes. We all decided to go back the hotel to get ourselves freshen up and later on make some rounds in Pratunam. We took the same route and went to the BTS Sky Train. But while on our way back to Mo Chit Station, this scene caught my attention:

Yan po ang mga kotse ng shoppers sa Chatuchak Market! Kalokah! Parang di mahulugan ng karayom ang parking lot! Hehehehe!

We just went back to Siam Paragon (parang favorite ko na ang mall na ito, hehehe!) for a quick and light dinner. Then, headed back to the hotel.

I was feeling a bit different then. Maybe it was the heat. Or maybe I just got too tired that I fell sick. Mom and I opted to just stay at the hotel so I could rest. Ayan ang proof, nakaratay akong may sakit sa Bangkok…

But that didn’t stop Len and Candy to stroll around Pratunam. Besides, they need to buy lots of pasabulong for their friends and loved ones.

That was our 2nd day. Mejo bitin pa rin noh? Hehehe!

To be continued…

 

Day 1: Thailand Adventure

Pardon for the uber slow updates. I have been busy with lots of domestic chores lately. Maybe, I’ll post entries about that some other day. But for the meantime, here’s the first entry of the most awaited Mommy’s 74th birthday celebration in Thailand and Vietnam. (Feeling ko lang na hinihintay nyo ng bonggang-bongga ang kwento ko. Pabayaan nyo na, yan ang paniniwala ko eh! Hehehe!)

As always, I’d start off my travelogue with the characters. So, here are the Thailand Adventure cast:

Len and Candy are my friends from church/choir while the other two, you already know who they are as their pics are always posted here in my site. LOL.

Oct. 24, 2009. We were scheduled to take the 12:20 p.m. Cebu Pacific flight in Clark so we had to leave home before 6:00 am. We needed to catch the 7:00 am Philtranco Bus at the back of SM Megamall. It exclusively plies from Ortigas to Clark and cost just P300 per head.

At around 9:oo am., we reached Clark Airport a.k.a. Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA). Ahem! Ayaw magpatalo sa NAIA at kelangan talaga ganyan ang pangalan ng airport? And since it was too early for our flight, we had some snacks, deliberately abused the wifi connection (kaya naman updated ang status ko sa Facebook, hehehe!) and did my favorite habit… photo ops, what else?! 😛

I don’t know what is with flying that my Mom like so much. We see the same thing over and over again (read: just clouds) whenever inside the plane but she still prefers to look outside the window. So I tried to capture that moment. And without adjusting my old trusty digicam, I got this amazing stolen shot of her:

When she turned back on me and she told a story about a neighbor who hates flying. Here’s our conversation:

Mommy: Kilala mo si Aling (insert name here), di ba?

Winkie: Hindi.

Mommy: Kilala mo yun. Palagi yun pumupunta sa bahay eh!

Winkie: Ok fine. Oh anong meron ke Aling (insert name here)?

Mommy: Nakakwentuhan ko sya nung isang araw. Nabanggit ko na pupunta tayo ng Thailand. Bigla ba naman sinabi na ayaw daw nyang sumakay ng eroplano lalo pag umuuwi ng probinsya. Kasi daw wala naman nakikitang maganda pag nasa eroplano. Di katulad pag nakasakay sa bus eh maraming nakikita. May mga sceneries, puno, kalabaw… nakakalibang daw. Loka-loka din noh? Mas maganda kaya sa eroplano, clouds ang makikita. Wala kayang ganun pag nagbus ka.

Winkie: Korek! Kaya magulat ka ‘pag nakakita ka ng kalabaw ngayon.

Mommy: Hahaha! Oo nga noh?!

That is just one of my hilarious conversations with my Mom. There’s more. I’ll check if I could inject them in my other posts.

Anyhow, our Manila-to-Bangkok flight was smooth. At 2:35 p.m. (Thailand’s local time), we landed at the Suvarnabhumi Airport. At syemps, pikchuran agad!

It was too obvious that we were already in Thailand as we saw this and exploited it for some more photo ops…

I was a bit amazed with the facilities of the airport. It was huge and has updated techology at the immigration. It’s definitely not better than HK and SG airports but waaaaay ahead than NAIA.

Since I got us accommodation package, we were picked up from the airport. Our tourist guide, Anne, was already there waiting for us. We boarded a nice 10-seater van that took us to our hotel. But along the way, I took some snaps of the Thai roads:

Oh di ba parang Manila lang. Ke daming fly-over! Too bad I wasn’t able to take pics of the jammed roads when we pushed furhter to Bangkok proper. It was a 45-minute trip from the airport to our hotel… inclusive of bad traffic! LOL.

I got us affordable accommodations at the Baiyoke Boutique Hotel. It’s located in Pratunam area…very near the street slash night markets and shopping malls. Len and Candy were checked in a separate room from us. They were housed at room 422 while Mom and I were at 424.

You might be wondering why I had to tell slash show this thing. Well, I just noticed some very important numbers slash dates here. The hotel coupons carried Mommy’s birthday (Oct. 27, our check out date) while the hotel room stood for my birthday (Apr. 24). May konek, di ba?! Galing noh?! Hehehe!

Wanna have a peek of our room??? Eto po…

Sorry naman, may lolang mahilig sumama sa picture! Hehehe! Obviously, it wasn’t grand. Just a simple accommodation for budget travellers like me and my Mom. Apparently, I got this at USD100 (P4,900 at the time we booked) for 4D3N inclusive of airport transfers, daily breakfast and half-day city tour. Quite a nice package, eh?!

(Note to Irene: Sooooo very sorry I wasn’t able to get back at you to at least inform that I’m not getting the Le Meridien accommodation. When I learned that 2 of my friends are joining us, I opted to book cheaper accommodation. Hey, maybe next time I’ll holler when I swing by HK… soon!)

Since it was a bit late in the afternoon and we still haven’t eaten lunch, we just headed to the nearest mall (read: mala-Plaza Miranda or Tutuban mall) and tried to look for a nice resto or foodchain. I’m really not much adventurous when it comes to food and I have tried some Thai dishes before. They just didn’t much my taste buds well. So, we chose to be on the safe side and decided to eat here…

KFC kung KFC! Hahaha! In all fairness, I learned that KFC foods from Bangkok and Manila taste the same. LOL. It was a bit too pricey as compared here back home. Maybe P40 to 50 higher than the Manila price. But hey, their servings are way bigger. I could never finish a combo meal all by myself. So, Mommmy and I always shared meals. Tipid noh?! 😛

The Pratunam area is really haven for shoppers who are so much fond of branded class A and other tiangge buys. Too bad, I’m not their desired client. May kaartehan talaga ako sa shopping. Hehehe! I felt I was in Divisoria or Plaza Miranda. There were clothes, shoes and bags sold everywhere… and all other items that one could think of. Here, I took a snap so you can have a clear idea of what the Pratunam street market looks like:

It got overly crowded with vendors and shoppers as it turned darker. Too crowded that it’s no longer passable by vehicles. Sorry though as I wasn’t able to document that. 😦

While we were checking out the area, Candy mentioned about Siam Paragon. It’s a very nice high-end mall located just minutes from where we are. Equipped with map, we checked by ourselves how to get there. But the map we had in hand is a bit to vague to understand. Promise, first time ko maguluhan sa map at malocate kung nasaan ako. Hehehe! Another set of tourists seemed lost. They asked a local for directions. Since gaya-gaya kami, we also approached the that nice Thai lady and asked how we could get to Siam Paragon by foot. She gave us directions… but still a bit vague for us. And so I asked, “Is it near from here? Or it would be best to take a cab instead?” She said that it’s a bit too far to walk so advised as to take a tuk-tuk. It’s like the counterpart of our jeepneys here in the Phils but they look more like three-wheeler motorbikes. Oh wait, I got a pic of a tuk-tuk…

How cool is that?! 😛 You think it’s just a cheap ride? Think again… it’s not! When we asked how much will it cost us to take Siam Paragon, the driver told that it’s THB 150 (roughly P210 or USD5). Ang mahal di bah? Since we knew that tuk-tuks don’t offer fixed rates, we tried to haggle. We were able to agree at THB 80 ( roughly P110 or USD2.50) from Pratunam to Siam Paragon. Still a bit expensive as compared to tricycle fares in Manila. Anyhow, we still hopped in.

At last, we saw a nice looking mall. A real one. Siam Paragon is a bit comparable to the Shang-rila Mall along EDSA… but much much bigger.

We just checked out some familiar shops like Mango and Zara. We didn’t shop though. It was a very short mall trip. We had some snacks and bought some water and other necessary items at the supermarket before we headed back home… err, to the hotel.

I know it was kinda bitin, but we were already tired at that time so we all called it a day.

To be continued….

November Calendar

That We May Live

I couldn’t walk. Bembem, Dodoy, Dexter, Aling Doria and Mang Joven had to carry my heavy body down the GK site where we were about to build their homes. I was handed a roller which I dipped in a bucket of peach paint. Mang Joven spoke like a sage while taking a deept sigh: “Sa bawat hagod mo ay isa nang hininga para sa amin.” [“Every paint stroke of yours is a breathe for us.”] That hit me to the core. It dawned on me how a single minute gesture can affect a fellow man. I pray I could do billions of paint strokes while I live. That moment inspired me to paint these kids carrying the body of Jesus down the tomb. So much pain, yes; but gazing heavenwards with gratitude in their eyes. “Salamat Diyos, nakapaling namin Siya, kaibigang tunay na nagbuwis para sa amin.” [“Thank you Lord, we spent time with Him, He was a true friend who offered his life for us.”] That we may live.

– Joey Velasco

… I’m soooo back now!!!

Just hours ago, Mom and I landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. At kahit groggy pa ako dahil sa pagod at gutom, I still opted to face my laptop before I hit the bed. Nagwoworry ako masyado sa mga panananim ko sa Farmville at niluto sa Cafe World. I just wanted to tell that I’m back. Reporting for blog duty muna.

This isn’t a long post though. I just wanted to give y’all a quick peek of Mommy’s 5-day birthday celebration in Thailand and Vietnam.

Day 1: Bangkok, Thailand

Suvarnabhumi Airport, Thailand

Siam Paragon Mall, Bangkok

Day 2: Bangkok, Thailand

Wat Tri Mit Wit Trayaram, Bangkok

The Reclining Buddha, Bangkok

Day 3: Pattaya, Thailand

Nong Nooch Garden, Pattaya

Mini Siam, Pattaya

Day 4:  Thailand (morning) and Vietnam (evening)

Floating Market, Thailand

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Day 5: Vietnam

Cao Dai Temple, Vietnam

Cu Chi Tunnel, Vietnam

This is all for now, dear friends. Will tell you in details about our trip a little later.

Tulog lang muna aketch… zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

 

 

 

 

P.S. Mommy wants to extend her warmest thanks for all those who greeted her on her special day. I read all your greetings and messages to her… and they all made her smile. Salamat ng marami!!! 🙂

Goodbye…

… but only for a week.

Tomorrow at noon time, I’ll be flying out of Pinas for the 5-day birthday celebration of my ever-beloved Mudra. This simply means that I won’t be blogging (as if naman very active ako lately) for the next few days.

But before I go, I’ll leave you with these pics. Mommy will spend her 74th birthday in these places…

Royal Grand Palace (Bangkok, Thailand)

 

Cao Dai Temple (Ho Chi Mhin City, Vietnam)

 

Photo credits:

http://www.thailandvoyage.com

http://www.vietnamopentour.com

Just Another Magazine Stint

Last year, my picture got published in my ever favorite fashion magazine, Cosmopolitan Philippines. It was a contest I joined in where I brought my most recent copy to HK. And that crazy and interesting experience got me a spanking Nokia phone. 😛

Early last week, I received an email from Micah Sulit, Summit Media’s staff writer, and informed me about the article that she wrote in this month’s issue of Women’s Health Magazine. Apparently, I don’t know Micah personally. She just posted a comment at my Meet Winkie page a month ago asking if I want to participate in the article that she’s writing for the said health magazine. And so, I instantly said “Yes!” (Ewan ko ba, madali talaga ako mapasagot ng “oo”. Hehehe!)

Unlike last year’s I-got-a-cellphone-from-Cosmo-for-just-sending-a-pic-of-me experience, the article did not carry any of my pics. Sayang, very much willing pa naman akong magsubmit ng mga studio shots ko. Hehehe! The article is about something I am very much familiar with. Maybe, that’s the reason why the writer asked me to be in it. It’s about SINGLEHOOD. What else could it be? LOL.

The writer didn’t meet with me personally as it was a bit of a short notice. She instead sent me a questionnaire. Some are generic questions but some are very personal. I tried to answer them all… very briefly and very honestly.

If you want to check it out, the article is entitled Flying Solo.

There were other 2 equally single girls that got interviewed and they, too, shared their thoughts and experiences on  flying solo. Well, here are my responses that made the cut…

Again, it was really fun and interesting  to see my name in such famous magazine. And Sharing my thoughts and having them published is really a one-of-a-kind experience.

So, you better watch out for my next gig.

Yesterday… Cosmopolitan Magazine.

Today… Women’s Health.

Tomorrow…FHM! Bwahahaha!

 

Things I learned lately…

As always, I’m late on my blog updates. A lot of things has already happened. More typhoons did so much damages up north. People there have lost their homes and some even lost their lives. While here I am, still posting about my Ondoy experience. Well, just blame it on Facebook. I’m getting more and more attached to it every single day. At first it was just Farmville. Now, I’m getting hooked on Farmtown, Yoville and Cafe World. (Please lang, wag nyo na po akong iinvite sa iba. Maloloka na ako kakalaro! Hehehe!)

Having experienced flood for the first time, I really did not know what to do. Apparently, I didn’t panic much but it left me some trauma. The threats of Pepeng really made me nervous and got uberly worried that another flood might endanger us once more. Thank God it did not pester Metro Manila. Too bad though for the people who got affected by Pepeng and I really really feel sad for them.

Anyhow, as my title suggests, I have learned a lot of things lately. And here are top 3 things I realized slash should do after that Ondoy experience:

• Limit Shopping. Believe me, it’s the shopaholic in me talking. I can’t promise myself though that I WILL STOP shopping. But I will just limit it for a while. That flood experience got me so tired of moving all my (our) things and I realized we have too many stuff inside our house. Name it and you’ll have it. From toiletries to kitchen wares, from bed sheets to curtains, from magazines to CDs, from flip-flops to jackets, and whatever you could think of.  Yabang! Hahaha! Well, it’s really too much stuff for just a mother-and-daughter tandem. This I’ll-try-not-to-shop promise would be very difficult for me but I know I can do it. I just need to convince myself that I have too much already and that I won’t need new things for now. *Keeping my fingers crossed that I could really do it*

 

 

• Wear All Clothes. As I have written in my previous post, there were a lot of clothes that went down into the murky waters and they still have price tags on it. I really have tons and tons of clothes that were left unused. Well, I blame all the sale promotions for that. They lure me to buying stuff at half the price. So, I’m just another shopping victim. I’m completely innocent here. LOL. Kidding aside, I should now try to wear all those inside my closet (Ooops, wala na pala akong closet, sinira lahat ni Ondoy. Hmp!)  one by one rather than keeping them and waiting for special ocassion to flaunt them. Try ko muna mag-model-model ng mga clothes these days! LOL.

 

 

• Have a man inside the house. Oh yes, you heard me loud and clear! I need a man inside the house. If it weren’t for my cousin and neighbor, I guess all my things would remain untouched and I’ll just let those heavy things slash appliances got wet and damaged. So, having a man inside our house would really really be very handy. Kaya naman, I have decided… to let my mom get herself a boyfriend! Hahaha! Akala nyo para sa akin noh?! Whehehe!

Very deep ang mga realizations ko noh?! 😛

On a serious note though, I really feel sad to see all those people still suffering from the Ondoy and Pepeng’s aftermath. I hope and pray that they could surpass this very difficult ordeal… very soon!

Photo credits:

 www.eightyfeettall.com,

 www.beachbabieskidsale.com, 

www.wheelersmovers.com

 

 

 

 

 

P.S. No more typhoon posts next time… promise! 🙂

The Ondoy Incident… my side of the story!

Yeah yeah, I know, the Ondoy story is part of history now. Parma and Quedan have already passed by Pinas as well. Sorry na. Busy lang po sa farming sa Facebook paglilinis ng house at pagtupi ng mga damit.

Anyhow, as promised in my last post, here is my Ondoy story…

September 26, I woke up at around 8 a.m. thinking it was just another rainy Saturday morning. Although I was aware that it rained all night, it didn’t bother me much as I know our house is safe from such calamaties.

So, as usual, I grabbed my laptop and hooked on the net. I was in a hurry then as it was harvest time for me in Farmville. LOL. Since I was on Facebook, I got myself busy checking out posts made by friends. I was suprised to see some pics shared by one of my colleagues. I even blurted out, “Hala, ang taas na ng baha sa ibang lugar! Malapit na sa bubong!” That colleague lives somewhere in Mandaluyong. After some minutes, my former boss posted similar pics. I even told my mom, “Ma, alam mo baha na kina Ma’am (insert former boss’s name here). Lagpas tuhod sa kanila!” But still, those pictures did not bother me. In fact, it got me interested to view some other pics. Until suddenly, one of my older male cousins came to our house and ask my mom, “Tiyang, bumabaha na sa likod namin. Tumumba na yung washing machine ko. Kumusta po yung sa inyo?” My mom, who was watching tv that time, replied, “Ay ewan ko lang. Pakitingnan nga.” That was the time I shifted my attention from online to the real world. And when I looked down, eto lang ang nasabi ko, “Nyay! Nasa likod ko na pala ang baha!”

And so, I started to panic. LOL.

Another neighbor came in and checked if we needed help. And so, they both tried to save some important things starting from my washing machine, ref and bed. Since my clothes are neatly kept in plastic stackable containers, it was easy for me to move them all from the bedroom to our living room. Well, I have been using those wheeled-plastic containers as our place is a bit fire prone. Kelangan ganun ang gamit para itutulak lang in cases of emergency.

It was a bit late for us to save some of my photo albums as water is around 10 inches high already. But still, my Mom tried to get them all. I never imagined how we quickly moved most of our things to our living room. My cousin and  nieghbor also tried to elevate my sofa and shoe cabinet and put it on top of monoblock stools.

So after all those panic stuff, ganito ang naging itsura ng bahay namin…

Promise, living room po namin yan! Hindi lang halata. Hahaha!

Noticed those magazines? Those are just some of my Cosmopolitan collection.

I went back to the bedroom to look for other important things to save. I saw my bayong-like bag. In it were my precious flip-flops and I blurted out, “Waaah! Ang mga Havaianas ko!!!” My Mom laughed and said, “Baliw, rubber kaya yan! Ok lang na mabasa!” Oo nga naman, may point si Mudra dun. Bakit ba ?! Eh sa gusto kong magpanic for my precious Havaianas. LOL.

Water continued to pour in. Here’s a photo of my bedroom when water level was still a bit low…

 

 It was just around 15 inches high. It doubled up after sometime.

Even in the middle of such dilemma, my OC nature surfaced. I looked for sako bags. Know those with Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh prints sold at the marketplace? I have 5 of those. And despite the flood, I still managed to pack some of our clothes in those sako bags. Kiber sa baha, OC kung OC talaga! Hehehe! And one funny thing, I asked Mommy to wear board shorts so it would dry up faster in case we get wet. So, board shorts ang costume naming mag-ina. Kala ni Christine Reyes sya lang ang naka-japorms habang baha noh?! 😛

Mid afternoon, members of our Barangay Council went to our area and announced that the doors of the nearest public school has opened for us for evacuation. We didn’t bother though as we can’t leave our things behind.

Time passed by and it was night time already. Water level is continuously increasing. Yet, my Mom and I still tried to improvise as we wanted to sleep. Mommy opted to use the dining chairs. Pinagdikit-dikit lang nya, instant higaan na. Since my Mom’s bed is not yet wet, I cleared up a small space enough for me to sleep in.

At around 10 p.m., Mom was already asleep while I was wide awake, afraid and praying to God to make rain to stop and let the water subside soon. But I guess, I wasn’t praying hard enough. Patuloy tumaas ang baha. And oh, brownout na pala that time. I felt so helpless. I then started to cry. It was my first time to experience that so it was a bit too sad for me to be in that situation. I pictured in mind that Titanic scene where the Mom was trying to put her children to sleep while the ship was sinking. I cried even harder. I was trying to sleep while being surrounded by flood. But then again, I thought of the people who are used to experiencing this kind of calamities like Malabon and Marikina residents. I then stopped crying.

Some minutes later, I heard noise from our living room. Nabuhat pala ng tubig ung mga plastic containers. So all those clothes inside those canisters got wet. And not just clothes, but my office and special ocassion clothes. Some even have price tags. So, ang dami pang hindi nagagamit. Di na ako umiyak. Naiinis na lang ako. Since it was too dark inside the house, I no longer bothered to pick up those clothes and thought to just check them as soon as the water subsides.

At around 12 midnight, I got a bit concerned for my TV and component. I went out to seek help. One of my childhood friends asked what they could do for us. I just told them that I was worried my TV rack might collapse anytime soon if I don’t remove my appliances from there. Sinisi pa ako, “Sus ka, bakit ngayon mo lang sinabi. Sana kanina pa natin nailikas yan. Isang sabi mo lang, ilalabas namin agad yan.” And so they moved those appliances outside our house. One of our neighbors was kind enough to accommodate those in their house. She even invited me and my Mom to spend the night with them. And so we did.

Another problem arose at around 2 a.m. (Sunday). We learned that a house from the neighboring street was on fire. Anuber?!?!?! May baha na, may sunog pa! Gladly though, people from different barangays helped to put out the fire. But two houses got burned.

It was the longest, most tiring and nerve-wrecking night I have experienced in my life. Water subsided at 7 a.m. of September 27. No time to rest, we started washing all the clothes that were soaked with flood. We were able to revive most of our clothes but some were too muddy that we had to throw them away. Later that day, nearing evening, electricity went back on. So we then decided to clean the murky floor. Goodness, ang hirap pala maglinis ng sahig na puro putik.

Well, up to this writing, our house is still a mess. All my cabinets were damaged and we don’t know where to put all our things. Etong si Ondoy, dagdag gastos. Nakakaasar!

On the bright note though, I’m glad that nothing bad happened to me, my Mom and the rest of the people in our community. When I watched the Ondoy news reports days after the incident, nanlumo ako with what I saw. Families lost their homes. Some people even lost their lives. And some areas are still flooded up to now.

So, despite what happened, I still feel blessed. God may not have answered my request to make the rain stop and let the water subside but He gave me a better answer. He spared us from the danger Ondoy brought. He kept us perfectly safe.