I usually peek from the window plane to appreciate the earth from a bird’s eye view. But there was none. All you could see was just blindingly white sheet of clouds. And if you look to the East, you could see dark gray clouds confirming that ‘Ondoy’ is coming.

The seat belt light was on all through our roller coaster ride. Hell yeah – talk about turbulence galore!

I was so thankful to Him and to our excellent pilot when we finally made it to land. But our calvary didn’t end there..

After our long, slippery, and winding road trip from airport to seaport, we were stranded and couldn’t reach the Island yet. Coast guard suspended all the ferries. It was already past 1PM when they let us go asea and they made sure that everyone was wearing their life vest even though it was just a 5-minute ferry ride — Yes! it was just 5 minutes! (But I just couldn’t blame ‘em).

As we have arrived to our Haven, we turned on the TV and saw a disturbing and ‘inconvenient’ truth of what was happening in Metro Manila during the times we were complaining on our so-called ‘inconvenient’ trip to Bora.

One word that can describe Ondoy’s wrath — Horrific!

Most of my blogmates had their own experiences with Ondoy:
One fell on a manhole
One had to walk kilometers just to made it through the rain
One got stranded at the office for hours
One almost lost her home.

We can’t complain more when compared to others who have lost almost everything or worse, lost their loved-ones. I can’t bear to see again the pictures and videos posted all over the web about that disastrous typhoon.

As much as we grieve for our loss, we still need to be strong and move forward. It’s amazing how Filipinos were unified during a time like this. We could be everyday heroes.

Cliche as it may seem – “This is not the end, but just the beginning”.

Flight back to Manila – An inspiring view after the storm: Noah’s Covenant.
It may be faint, but it still gives us hopes.

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Despite the weather, I was still able to capture Mayon.. But this was the best I could get..

Every day, I was blessed to eat these Bicol specialties for breakfast.

Pancit Bato

Pancit Lapad

They’re usually best topped with Dinuguan (Blood Soup?). I don’t know why, but I never liked it. I just want my Pancit plain, but served with puto! These are the traditional rice steamed puto in Bicol. It’s made of pulverized rice (instead of flour), and caramelized coconut as its filling.

Best to eat ‘em this way:

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We spent our day (and our not so many moolahs) on shopping. Most souvenirs can be brought at the sidewalks along Station 3 and at the stores in DMall. Very popular and cheap things and stuffs to buy are bracelets, ref magnets, key chains, and of course T-Shirts.

Our last day shouldn’t be wasted without another adventure. So, we decided to try ATV (All Terrain Vehicle). We recommend the big cars (for P600) than the buggy cars (for P500) because you might be thrown out of it on rough roads. They’re very easy to drive.. you not need to be expert on driving. What’s important is to know when to break.

This was the route we’ve taken:

Our destination is Mt. Luho. You will get to see the wholeness of Boracay. It’s a splendid view.. animals were just a bonus attraction.

After driving, we stopped by at Jonas for their famous shakes. P80 is worth the chill.

Jonas is very near to Willy’s Rock. It has a grotto of Mama Mary which I think is very useful to those who are in “senti mode”.

And just before sight seeing Willy’s Rock, we spotted Marc Nelson and Diane Castelejo who were probably shooting an episode for Sports Unlimited. They were able to held up Marc Nelson and took these shots before he scurried off.. portraying his Amazing-Race-run (while sporting his 6 packs!).. How can be a man ran so beautifully?!

Expenses:
ATV: P600
Mt. Luho entrance: P50
Jonas shakes: 80

• October 31, 2008 — Boracay Day 2 (3)
• October 19, 2008 — Boracay day 1 (7)

Our adventure on Day 2 was Reef Walking! We were submerged 20000 leagues 28 feet under the sea using a traditional 30 kg. underwater helmet.  It was so heavy that it sored the bones on my shoulders for days!  Though there were few fishes to feed and very few corals (reef) to walk on, it was still a fun activity to experience.

After being 28 feet under water, we climbed a 28-feet wall at DMall’s DWall. I really thought it was easy. I was stuck halfway and can’t pull myself up because my legs and arms were starting to shake. Only Grace, Orville, and Joan managed to finish the course.

Why don’t you spread out your legs, Orville? Hehehe

Woohoo! Go Gracey!

But the main highlight on Day 2 was our cocktail party (a.k.a inuman session).  Actually, we only have 2 rounds.  But what made our little cocktail party extravagant was Verlyn’s proud performance with the band.  They were so kind enough (as in!) to let her perform with them not just once, but with 3 songs!!  She sang What’s Up, Zombie (with Jo’s special participation),  and All Apologies.

Expenses:
Reef Walking: 500
Underwater cam: 600/8
DWall Climbing: 50
Drinks: 150 for 2 drinks
Jammin’ session: priceless

• November 2, 2008 — Boracay Day 3 (0)
• October 19, 2008 — Boracay day 1 (7)

Finally at long last, we were able to lay our feet on the finest sand of boracay!! Gosh, after so many years.. I never thought I’d be able to go there.. actually, I never thought I’d be able to ride a plane.. hehehe.

We had so much fun and adventure spending 3 days and 3 nights on island hopping, reef walking, driving an ATV, and wall climbing.. truly an escape from reality of my bored and lazy day-to-day routine.

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Finally at long last, we were able to lay our feet on the finest sand of boracay!! Gosh, after so many years.. I never thought I’d be able to go there.. actually, I never thought I’d be able to ride a plane.. hehehe. 

We had so much fun and adventure spending 3 days and 3 nights on island hopping, reef walking, driving an ATV, and wall climbing.. truly an escape from reality of my bored and lazy day-to-day routine.

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I was bitten by an ant in my right eye! It was about 3am. It was really painful but I didn’t get up. I said that it’s just mind over matter. The pain will just pass. So I slept for few more hours. When I woke up and opened my eyes, I can only see 3/4!

What I mean by 3/4 vision is, full view on my left eye and only half view on my right eye.. Hehehe. I do have a reason now to wear shades. And this won’t stop me from re-visiting our hacienda! Heeeheheee.. Just kidding, we’re just trespassing :-)

I spent 4 days in Albay, but I wasn’t able to see the perfect cone. I wish I could blew those gloomy clouds.. or I guess, Mayon was just too humble and shy that day.

Please join :-)

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Aside from eating a birthday cake, I wanted to celebrate my birthday on a different approach.. No, I’m not bungee jumping.. We just decided to celebrate it on a different place. So, I thought that a stroll at a park is a nice idea..

I thought that nature would relieve stress, but I never thought that the day will turn out so stressful — that is because we never get tired to strike a pose on every part of the park. It was indeed so stressful to take these crazy beautiful pictures, and yet we had so much fun.

My favorite shot is this magnificent tree.. I called it WinXP Tree ‘coz it reminded me of a wallpaper on XP.

And so we saw it, we came to it, and we conquered it!

You will also get to see a swamp, pond, the dam (of course), trees, trees, and more trees! To get to know more about the park, please visit www.lamesaecopark.com

Trivia: Did you know that I share my birthday with Rizal? Luckily, my parents didn’t name me Rizalina. But unluckily, did you know that it always rain on my birthday? Though, we were fortunate enough that the rain stopped when we’re already at the park — thus, it brought too much smell of the earth. They said that a rainbow always appear after the rain, it did not.. but it could have been such a birthday treat to see a rainbow on that day!

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Less crowded beach as if the shore is ours. The sand is not white but fine and clean. Yes, that’s me in the picture.

I like the warm saltwater pool. Again, pool is ours (and they’re not too strict on what you’re wearing).

You could also sail a boat to go to an island with white sand.

An extra trip to see marine turtles in pawikan conservatory.

Nice place to relax and unwind from dusk ’til dawn.

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We have no place to go so we hang out at Time Zone and thought we stay there until it closes.  We never thought that it will be opened up until 1 AM.  Redbox and Timezone, along with other restos located at the park in Trinoma mall, are still open after midnight. 

So we make the most out of it.. dance Freak, basketball, videoke.. all yours.. everything’s readily available.. how sweet!

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