scrapbook layouts

august 30, 2005

i haven't been doing a blog for more than two weeks so i don't know what to say.

ah, yes, i was quite productive yesterday, a non-working holiday, because it was national heroes' day. only those in the government service were exempted from going to work. and the announcement wasn't released till sunday which prevented many from going on a long weekend. in any case, i was able to work on my draft report.

i had decided in the morning that i wouldn't go to my public speaking class in the evening because i wanted to finish my work. and as luck would have it the class was postponed because imee said that the teacher was rushed to the hospital. well, i didn't wish for anything drastic like that to happen. in fact, i just didn't want to go to class. i'm not so evil that i would wish harm to happen to a fellow human being.

there are still some things to be added on my report but it's more or less complete and i'm happy for that.

villa escudero august 12-13, 2005

my friend maggie, the one i went with in bangkok, went on another holiday albeit a very short one. we went to villa escudero in quezon for an overnight stay. we left last august 12, a friday and returned the following day.

we almost didn't go because it was raining here in makati and we weren't sure if it's the same thing in quezon. they didn't have any phone number in the directory for the resort. all they have was the phone number of the manila office. we couldn't call them because the office doesn't open till 9 am and we wanted to leave by 7 am. the resort is 2-1/2 hours from manila by bus so if we leave at past 9 we'll be late for the check-in time which is at 11 am.

anyway we just decided to meet at the bus station and if the weather looked good by the time we both get to the station we'll proceed, if not we'll not go and have our stay rescheduled. they allow that so whether we go or not was no big deal. however we wanted to go that day because who knows when we'll have the time to go next.

well, since it looked like the sun was finally coming out we decided to go to villa escudero.

along the way the rains would fall and would stop after a few minutes. when we got to the gate of the resort it wasn't raining anymore.

but it would drizzle every now and then. happily for me the rains stopped and i was able to get some pictures. for an overnight stay i used up 5 rolls. i just love taking pictures of everything. i'm sure that those who'll look at my pictures would complain again that they hardly see people in them. i like taking pictures of sceneries and flowers. they just don't understand that there are pictures where it's not necessary to put people in.

so what did we do at the resort? we didn't swim because the water was cold but also because there were lots of foreign objects floating in the water. that's understandable because the rains brought with it leaves and insects and other stuff and they fell in the water. well, even though we didn't swim my new speedo bathing suit got wet because we lay against the concrete wall of the falls. i don't know how to describe it, sorry. the water was cold but i braved it for the picture taking. :-)

we posed as if we were posing for the fhm magazine because there was nobody around. or so we thought. we didn't know that we could be seen from the upper deck. gosh! it was embarrassing to think that we were seen. hopefully they've forgotten by now what we looked like. :-)

we went rafting on the lake. we wore life vests. it's said that the lake was 30 ft. deep so those who do not know how to swim must not go rafting. though i don't know how to swim yet i did go. there weren't any waves and i didn't do anything foolish to rock the bamboo raft. however maggie freaked out when i stood up to hand her my camera and when i got it back. :-) i was very careful in walking toward her so i knew i wouldn't fall or overturn the raft. the guy who was in charge of the bamboo rafts said that there was no danger of overturning the raft but one could fall. maggie was only 2 steps away from me so i was confident that no danger would happen. although looking back now accidents do happen. anyway i'm glad i didn't fall.

maybe the reason why i was also confident was because i was wearing a life jacket. oh, well, that's over now.

while my arms didn't ache from swimming they did ache from paddling the raft. if i must say so, we worked pretty well as a team. we were able to maneuver the raft towards where we wanted to go and we didn't get stuck anywhere. we stopped because we wanted to take pictures.

we rode a carabao cart 3 times. it was nice. and in each cart there was a singer and a guitarist who sing pilipino songs. the driver of the cart could take you whereever you wanted to go.

there was a jeepney too for the same purpose but, naturally, we prefer the carabao cart. there's nothing like that here in the metropolis.

our room was nice. there was a double bed and a single bed. it had a second level but there weren't any beds/mattresses there because there was just the two of us. the room could accommodate as many as 6 people. it also had a ceiling fan, a desk fan and a toilet and bath.

the museum was a disappointment though because i don't think they have a proper curator to look after the items there. it was a jumble. that's a pity because there were lots of things to see there especially for one who is a history buff. 'm sure one could happily spend some hours there just looking at the things on display, if it was arranged beautifully.

the escudero family loved to travel and from their travels they brought back plenty of things. so there were asian stuff, european, filipino. and most of the items had no labels in them so you don't know which era they're from or what they are. the filipino clothes were worn by mannequins with caucasian features. i don't know why they couldn't have gotten filipino ones.

filipino dances were performed in the afternoon and it was wonderful to watch. i don't know how to dance so i like to watch people dancing. and in the evening, while we were having dinner, they were practicing for their performance during the resort's 15th anniversary. it wasn't a dress rehearsal yet so i didn't take pictures.

the food was good but i enjoyed breakfast most of all because they served an all-filipino entree. it wasn't a buffet style breakfast though because there were only a few people who stayed overnight. ditto dinner.

lunch was buffet because the resort gets plenty of people. usually the tables were set up in the falls but because it was raining we had our lunch in a covered area. at the falls you eat while your feet are submerged in water. that can be pretty refreshing. it's okay that we did not get to experience that because we were able to have our fhm :-) picture taking there. if we had eaten at the falls the tables would not have been cleared till very late, i presume, and there would have been plenty of people there.

it wasn't difficult to get to the resort, especially for us who didn't have any car. you just go to the bus station in buendia and take the jam bus going to lucena. then you tell the driver you want to get off at villa escudero and pay P116. then you get dropped off at the entrance. then the guard at the resort's gate would call the resort so that a jeepney could pick us up.

that also is the same in going back. except that this time we took the great star bus. the fare was lesser -- only P111. its terminal was beside jam. had i known that we'd have taken the latter bus in going to and from villa escudero.

maggie and i spent P2170 for our overnight trip. this amount already includes all 3 meals, the rafting on the lake, the use of the swimming pools and the jacuzzi. however if there had been 6 of us we'd have spent around P1500 each. all in all we had a great time.

august 10, 2005

we're really going to villa escudero. we've put down a deposit in the resort's name and i've bought a new speedo bathing suit. it's all systems go.

well, i've been meaning to buy a new bathing suit anyway. however i was waiting for a nice one to go on sale. but the ones that are on display are always the same. true, some are on sale at a half-price discount but if i am not happy wearing it why buy one notwithstanding its low price. you don't always buy an item because it's discounted. as emeril lagasse asks: "why is it on sale?"

my old bathing suit is still okay but because i've put on a little weight i was afraid that the zipper would break once i put it on at the resort and i'll not be able to go swimming. thus i bought one without a zipper. my first speedo was also without a zipper so i kinda thought of it while i was trying on the bathing suit.

tomorrow i'll clean my room and do my ironing. i always do this when i'm going away. i remember cleaning my room and doing my ironing on the eve of our flight to hongkong. we had to be at the airport at 4:00 a.m. and i didn't get to bed until 2:00 a.m. gosh! i was cranky when i woke up an hour later. put it down to lack of sleep.

when i went to bangkok this year i was prepared -- i did whatever stuff needed to be done days before the departure. and when i came back after 6 days of being away i didn't recognize my room. it was so neat. :-)

mar and family were here. it was a surprise so they saw my messy room. it didn't matter to the kids though. they found plenty of things to do there. justin looked at my partially finished bangkok album and leafed through it. just this monday it was jello who looked through it. i hope they learned something new.

my scrapbooks take a long time to finish because i tend to write everything i remember about the trip and incorporate it among the pictures. i also do my research on the internet and whatever relevant i find i put it in the scrapbook. i do this so that whatever question pops up in the mind of whoever looks at my scrapbooks will be answered. and he need not question me anymore because the answer is right there on the page staring at him. :-)

august 8, 2005

i played hooky today. i went with mar to the boardwalk behind the quirino grandstand but it was closed for renovation -- something about the construction of ocean way? it was drizzling at times and the wind sure was strong. i'm sure none of my pictures taken there showed my face clearly because my hair was always in my face.

my umbrella got overturned quite a few times and justin was excited about that. he loved holding the umbrella.

when the waves hit the low wall and splashed on our feet near where we were standing jello said that he hoped that he wouldn't get tupperware or plastic bags in his face. he was funny, that boy.

the water was quite polluted and filled with litter. you wouldn't see that scene in australia. why do filipinos think that the sea or any body of water is their dumping site?

the playground was also closed for renovation. not that the kids would have played in it but it'd have been nice for a photo op. after all that's where we used to play ages ago.

the bust of elpidio quirino beside the grandstand was tarnished. why doesn't the npdc do something about it? i like taking pictures but that bust didn't merit any shot at all. besides it was hardly noticeable.

a driver of a karetela stopped near us asking us if we wanted to take a ride. he was asking only P100 for a 20-minute ride. that's quite cheap. it would have been an experience for the kids but because of the rainy weather they declined. perhaps that's why the driver was asking for such a low price -- there were not much tourists in rizal park on a rainy day.

then we went to the money museum in bangko sentral ng pilipinas. no wonder i don't remember it. it has been renovated. it was nice to see different currencies not only of the philippines but of other countries as well. not only did i see money in its different forms but learned history as well.

entrance to the museum is free but if you want to buy souvenirs you have to do so before 2:00 p.m. naturally we were not allowed to take our bags or cameras inside. except for two students who only stayed for a short while there were no other museum visitors except us.

august 7, 2005

this is getting to be addicting. while i do not have anything substantial to write i guess the thought of putting my thoughts on the web, no matter how insignificant it is, appeals to me. why is that, i wonder?

in any case, i'm glad i didn't go with mom and mar to bulacan today because they're just now getting home. they won't be here till another hour or so. that's what i foresaw -- not leaving when i want to and being stuck in traffic, especially since tomorrow is a monday, another working day. and it's usual that those who went to the province for the weekend are coming back to manila. it's difficult to get around at times when you don't have your own mode of transportation. certainly if you're in the city, it's not that difficult, as there are all sorts of transportation available.

well, it's a good thing too that i didn't go with them because ellen and i were able to get together albeit accidentally. actually it was she who saw me as she was getting on the jeep. i was deep in thought and didn't notice who was getting in the jeepney. it was when she touched my lap and sat beside me that i noticed her.

i'm really glad for this opportunity because i was able to greet her a happy birthday, even though it's a week late. i was not feeling well last sunday and i forgot all about her birthday and wasn't able to send her an SMS all throughout the week.

we went to hear mass and went to the supermarket together where i bought the ingredients for my vegetable recipe. after many months of not cooking i was able to cook today. great!

next week, if i have time, i will bake cookies. oh, i forgot, that might not be a good idea because i don't know what time i'll be back from villa escudero assuming that i do go.