Holidays in Coron and Culion, Palawan

I spent holidays 2007 at the Orencia farm in Culion, Palawan. S. Alice, Teacher Je, and myself left Manila for Coron, Palawan via SuperFerry’s Our Lady of Good Voyage. The ferry departed from the pier around 5 PM, so we watched sunset at Manila Bay:

The voyage to Coron lasted about 12 hours, much of which I spent catching up on sleep. By the time I woke up, it was day break in Coron.

From Coron, we took a pump boat to Ugnisan, Culion where the farm is. There I happily joined Tita Bebeng’s cooking boot camp and learned the secret in making the perfect lumpia wrapper (the nonstick pan!). We also made atchara, halayang ube, adobong bayawak, and adobong pusit. Tita Bebeng can cook all day long! We had just finished eating, and she would start preparing for the next meal.

A trip to Palawan would be incomplete without hitting one of its pristine beaches. We stayed overnight in Horse Island, so-named because of its shape.

We had Horse Island all to ourselves. We set up tents, the guys went fishing, I ran through the length of the beach.

Why I believe in happy endings

Last December 20, my friends Joyce and Jerald exchanged “I do’s.” This pair is one of the reasons I will keep on believing in happy endings.

Jerald, Joyce, and I in Horse Island

Jerald and Joyce are proof that the best foundation for a lasting relationship is friendship. I hope they do not mind me getting these from their friendster testimonials:

Jerald on Joyce:

wala nga sigurong perfect relationship, magiging boring yun. it’s really God’s blessing to stay in a relationship ng matagal. you dont have the same personality, you dont have the same interests and sometimes you are extreme opposites.
i dont believe that you need someone to be complete. to be your compliment is more appropriate. and that is what i found in joyce. kung anu-ano na ang nangyari sa amin pero one thing is for sure. mahal na mahal ko yan! my bestfriend, my greatest critic, my no. 1 supporter. masipag, trustworthy, dependable, malambing, matiyaga, matalino, matapang, pikon at ipaglalaban ka ng patayan! sugar and super spicy, ika nga. only a few person can be considered as God’s gift, joyce is certainly one of them. corny man sabihin, pero kung meron man talagang nakasulat na pangalan sa loob ng puso, si joyce ang nakasulat sa akin.

Joyce on Jerald:

‘Tong mamang ito ang pinakamabait na tao sa buong mundo – nakapagtiis sakin for more than 6 years na (gasem!) ‘Tong mamang ito ang pinakamatiyaga – kaya nyang makibagay from 0-99 years old (bilib!) ‘Tong mamang ito ang pinakamahal ko sa buong mundo (naks!) Love you, MAHAL!

To Jerald and Joyce, know that I love you guys. Keep on living, loving, and learning together.

Fruitcake for Christmas

I will never get tired of listening to Eraserheads’ Christmas album Fruitcake which carries my favorite song “Lightyears.”  Since I have yet to get a CD copy of the album and my cassette player had long conked out on me, I can only listen to the songs from Fruitcake that are included in the two Anthology albums and those that the band sang in this RX Concert Series recording Jegs generously shared.

By the way, Anvil Publishing gave Eheads fans a Christmas gift when it finally came up with a reprint of Fruitcake the book. The book gets new colors too: red and green cover in lieu of the original silver and black. Although I already have a copy of the first printing, I would not object to getting a copy with the red and green cover.

Fruitcake is the story of a girl named Frannie Wei who with her friend  Shadow ran away from home. Together they encountered all sorts of characters such as the Carol Kings, Bobo the Wiseman, the Lord of the Rhum, the Motherpackers, the Fabulous Baker Boy, and the Fruit Fairy.

Hooked on David Cook

I signed up in DavidCookOfficial the day I got David Cook’s self-titled debut album. Here is one of my favorite pictures of David from the official gallery:

Reposting here my post on my DavidCookOfficial page:

I’m a fan (and you should be too) because David Cook sings his heart out every time. He brings sincerity to his performance. He is such a joy to watch and to listen to.

I got his album yesterday, and it is awesome! I am so looking forward to seeing him perform live.

My 100

Chai and I watched 100 (Chris Martinez, 2008 ) at Galleria last weekend. In 100 Mylene Dizon played Joyce, a young woman living it up and then finding herself having to let go of everything because she is dying. Giving Joyce her unwavering love and support is her best friend Ruby (Eugene Domingo). Together Joyce and Ruby and later in the film, Joyce’s mom (Tessie Tomas) and nephew, made a list of things to do, places to be, and people to find/spend time with.

I missed 100 in Cinemalaya, and I have to thank Jegs for giving me the heads up on its cinema run. I am glad that I saw the film with Chai. After watching it, we made a pact to push on with our plans which include starting our own business and going on a tour. I know that we still have a lot of saving to do, and since we are not running against time (only weakening limbs), we can actually list down more than a hundred. Here is a partial list of my 100, and just maybe, I get to write an individual post about each of these:

• Learn
  1. Nihongo
  2. Korean
  3. Spanish
  4. German
  5. Ilocano
  6. Cebuano
  7. Kapampangan
  8. to bike
  9. to drive
  10. to sew with a machine
  11. to bake
  12. to swim
  13. to play the guitar
  14. to write in baybayin
• Read
  15. War and Peace
  16. Anna Karenina
  17. Lolita
  18. Madame Bovary
  19. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
  20. Hamlet
  21. The Great Gatsby
  22. In Search of Lost Time
  23. The Stories of Anton Chekhov
  24. Middlemarch
• Watch
  25. Akira Kurosawa films
  26. Audrey Hepburn films
  27. James Dean films
  28. Lino Brocka films
  29. Wong Kar Wai films
  30. Ishmael Bernal films
  31. FPJ films
  32. Park Chan Wook films
  33. Eraserheads in concert part 2!
  34. David Cook in concert
  35. Green Day in concert
  36. Rain in concert
• 37. Bigbang in concert with my cousin Angel
• Meet
  38. Ely Buendia/Raimund Marasigan/Buddy Zabala/Marcus Adoro
  39. Wong Kar Wai
  40. Christopher Doyle
  41. Tony Leung
  42. Park Chan Wook
  43. Zhang Yimou
  44. Oprah Winfrey
  45. Takuya Kimura
  46. Takeshi Kaneshiro
  47. Kei Nishikori
  48. Joe Odagiri
  49. Homare Sawa
  50. Sandara Park
  51. Peter Jackson
  52. David Cook
• Tour
  53. Bohol
  54. Boracay
  55. Davao
  56. Zamboanga
  57. Puerto Princesa, Palawan
  58. Vigan, Ilocos Sur
  59. Batanes
  60. Banaue
  61. Camiguin
  62. Bacolod, Negros Occidental
  63. Dumaguete, Negros Oriental
  64. Bukidnon
  65. Sagada
  66. Japan
  67. Sydney and Melbourne, Australia
  68. Germany
  69. Hongkong
  70. Spain
  71. Thailand
  72. Taiwan
  73. France
• 74. Italy
• 75. Israel

Moving

My old work station

Since joining the company in January 2006, we have moved offices twice, but that is considering the whole division and not just myself. I have moved work stations at least six times.

I admire people who can stay at least 10 years in one workplace. I have friends who still work with the companies they have joined since graduation from university. I wish I have the same kind of tenacity. The longest I have stayed in a company is 35 months. (I count in months to make it sound like I have worked there all my life.) 

I am restless again. Is it time to move?