…and they returned.

Fiesta! Fiesta! #manila #philippines #igersmanila (Taken with instagram)

Fiesta! Fiesta! #manila #philippines #igersmanila (Taken with instagram)

Bahay ni Lola

Where I spent most of my childhood.

Concepcion, Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija, Philippines, May 2011

I took a metric shitton fuckassload of pictures on a drive through downtown Pasig City yesterday, which I’ll need to sort through extensively, but what fascinated me the most was the insanely tangled electrical cords on these telephone poles (if you can still call them telephone poles when they’ve got so much other shit going on).

up gate on Flickr.

Vumi - Vigan

Not really Vigan(I wish).

Taken at SM North Edsa’s Sky Garden, Quezon City, Philippines, June 2011

hay, I want to go here.. So relaxing beach.. so beautiful… Palawan baby! :))

REPOST: “FROM MAKATI POLICE: This message is for every woman who goes out from home, office or school alone. If you find any child crying on the road showing his home address & asks you to take him home, take the child to the police station & not to his home address. Its a new modus operandi to rape women. Please forward to all female or boys having sisters/girlfriend. This message may save a million. PLEASE SPREAD!”

…and they returned. 

Inflatable Shark and Laughing Cicada Among 300 New Species Discovered in the Philippines

One of the designs by the Mark of the Four Waves Tribe, created specifically for the wearer of the tattoo.

(via tribe_members2)

May 2011. Manila Ocean Park, City of Manila | Water Prisons.

The Philippines’ Azkals will go through its first ever game for a FIFA 2014 World Cup slot.

It will be held later today at Sugathadasa Stadium, 4pm (UTC +5:30).

I do hope they win because I think that we can find our niche in the sport of football. I say this because I think that we aren’t really made for basketball.

Here’s an OLMNews report on Melissa Roxas’.  If you haven’t heard Melissa is a Filipino-American organizer who was a victim and survivor of abduction and torture sponsored by the Philippines state.  Read below for more info and also check out

http://justiceformelissa.org/

Shot out to the Bayan-USA folks for the emotional guerrilla theater piece. 

(from description:)

OLMNews reports on the 2nd year Anniversary of Melissa Roxas, Filipino-American activist from Los Angeles who was abducted by gunpoint along with two other colleagues Juanito Carebeo and John Edward Jandoc in broad daylight in a home they were visiting on May 19, 2009 in the town of La Paz, Tarlac in Philippines. Roxas, an American citizen was in the process of working on a project to collect research for a future medical mission for organization Bayan-Tarlac. Students and organizers from Bayan USA staged a re-enactment of Melissa’s abduction at Union Square SF then marched to the Filipino consulate to voice their concerns.

Roxas suffered severe physical and mental torture while being held captive from May 19-25 of 2009. Some of these torturous acts include being dragged to a van, being struck on the head and body, while being denied of food and water. These extreme acts against human rights activists are said to be blamed by the command of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who launched a counter insurgency program called Oplan Bantay Laya which received financial backing from the U.S. Government.

sunset by the cliff

- Basco, Batanes…

@ Calamba Church

Aliwan Fiesta

June 28, 2011.

Meet my brother, J.R., aka the guy who becomes antsy when he’s not doing anything. Even during vacations, he likes to keep his schedule pretty busy. And thus, he decided to spend a couple of days working at my family’s factory. Here he is getting ready, uniform and all. Our mom would have wanted to take a picture of this, kind of like a first-day-of-school picture. I didn’t wake up early enough for his first day, so I took this before his second day. He attended a two-day orientation, where he was able to drive a forklift, make a few boxes, know how to manufacture wiring harnesses, etc. He was even put on the assembly line—although he did put them behind by a lot. Haha. I give props to my brother. He’s probably the most masipag or hard-working person out of us siblings. Hands down. He picks up the slack and keeps me on track whenever I drop the ball on my Ate responsibilites that’s for sure. Hehe. Love ya, weirdooo. :-p

Inflatable Shark and Laughing Cicada Among 300 New Species Discovered in the Philippines:

All these new findings help support the idea that the Philippines “is one of the hottest of the hotspots for diverse and threatened life on Earth,” Gosliner said

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/06/27/inflatable-shark-and-laughing-cicada-among-300-new-species-discovered-in/

WOOOO GO PHILIPPINES!!!

Biodiversity in the Philippines

Sorbetes!

I’m stopping in Manila for an hour. It’s so short, but I know that it’ll feel great just to be back home, even though I’ll be stuck inside the airport.

I need to follow people who are awake at this time for me :)

Scientists braved leeches and a host of venomous creatures from the mountains to the sea to uncover more than 300 species that are likely new to science. These findings include dozens of new insects and spiders, more than 50 colorful new sea slugs and a number of deep-sea armored corals ”which protect themselves against predatory nibbles from fish by growing large, spiky plates,” said researcher Terrence Gosliner, dean of science and research collections at the California Academy of Sciences and leader of the 2011 Philippine Biodiversity Expedition. -Y! News

I’m only gonna post 6 of those cos my powers can’t find more.

These swell sharks can make like giants by inflating its stomach with water to bulk up and to scare off predators.

Sea Slugs!

Petalomera crab

This colorful worm is likely a new species of the genus Myrianida, which was found in coral rubble in the Philippines.

*

Mamma Mia!:

Hurrah!

I wasn’t able to watch this last Spring since we weren’t able to reserve a ticket for the show. Haha.

—

Hurray for the Phantom of the Opera! It’s a must-see! Classical music lovers will definitely enjoy it.

tiffany is joining miss lanao 2011..^^

& i so love the rock formations..

Dumaguete along with Davao we were able to learn and connect with many organizations working for development in the communities.  While at my homestay Kim and Lu spent a day taking us around to many organizations they have worked with or been to before.  Being in the social work college at Silliman University they are required to do so much community service, an aspect many of us on the trip from Mason really liked.  Mason doesn’t have a required amount of internships but we see the good it can do.  Most people wouldn’t mind the community service or internships once in them but I believe it takes an initial shove for people to do it.  Requiring it for school is the perfect solution.

Our first organization we went to was Casa Esperanza.  Casa Esperanza is an organization for battered and abused women.  The organization works at providing a place for those in abusive homes and works at finding a place for the women to go trying to incriminate the ones who did the harm. 

The next organization we went to visit is a government program set up at the Dumaguete Dump.  The dump is helping to teach the people of composting to get rid of how much garbage going into the dump.  They have cut down from 60 tons to 35 tons of garbage coming into the dump per day and are creating examples as to what they can do with many items they find in the garbage.  These things include planting pots, necklaces, handbags, bricks, and others.

The planting pots were made out of waxy paper as found in magazines as well as the necklaces.  They can be made as a way to decrease the garbage but also to create an income for the people who had been living off of scavenging at the dump. 

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The bricks and the candles are made out of melted down plastic bags.  Being in the Philippines in the last six weeks you come to find out how much those bags are used.  These products are good solutions for getting rid of the bags.

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The compost program run at the back of the building across from the dump.  The garbage is put into soil with African Night Crawlers to help break down the garbage.  This creates less garbage and more good soil.

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One traditional way to travel in the Philippines is to use a jeepney. It is also the most common vehicle for public use. Why not? It’s the cheapest way to travel. Aside from that, you also get to see a lo of different personalities. Different personalities that can sometimes be annoying. So here is my blog that will list the 6 people that you wouldn’t want to be with in a jeepney.

1. The Lady-in-skirt

These are the women who like wearing short skirts in jeepneys. And I find them annoying, because instead of sitting straight, they sit diagonally. This consumes more space, thus making the jeep tighter. I mean, if you are going to take a jeepney and you’re afraid that someone may peep on you, then don’t wear a short skirt! (Working uniform that requires you to wear it are excused from this.)

2. The Headbanger

Travelling early in the morning to work (or going home late in the evening) is really difficult for most of us. Most of us haven’t slept enough making us drowsy on our way to work. I totally understand this. What I don’t understand is why others have to bang their heads towards someone else if they feel sleepy. I mean, you can try to rest your head on the backrest (or on your side if you are sitting at the end of the jeepney) or perhaps on your laps if you feel sleepy. Try to think of others too. We lack sleep too, making us easier to get annoyed with things.

3. The Skunk

Since jeepneys are the most affordable way of travelling in the Philippines, we cannot remove the fact that people who physically works take it. I just hope that when they take it in the afternoon, at least they try to wash up a bit, because it’s a little bit insensitive and embarrassing to take a public vehicle smelling like rotten egg. If you don’t have water in your working area (which is a bit impossible to happen) at least use some alcohol or perfume (cologne).

4. The Ass-hole

Since jeepneys can accommodate a lot of people, it usually draws the attention of robbers. These are the people that you would certainly not want to be sitting next to you. They may be pickpockets, hold-upers, or some member of a gang who would use some strategy just to get your valuables. Anyway, whatever persona they may be, they are still f*cking annoying. May all of them burn in hell.

5. The Bitch

How poor a jeep may look like, wannabe queenbees still take it. They are the ones who think that they should be given importance in a jeepney. They will even push you away from where you are sitting, if you are sitting in the place where they want to sit. They will rant about how tight or how hot the jeepney is. They will even verbally assault you for whatever reason if they are feeling uncomfortable. Uneducated with poor breeding - that is how I’ll describe them. They make you want to shout, “take a taxi if you want to feel more comfortable, okay?!”

6. The Whores

A whore is usually accompanied by a man-whore (or sometimes a man-whore accompanied by another man-whore). These are the people who completely violates every inch of conservatism in our country. They keep on flirting all throughout the travel. They do all these slutty activities and throw some disgusting cheesy lines at each other. If you are quite unlucky, you might even hear the annoying flirty giggles of the whore. Their activities seem that they would end up having sex in the jeepney anytime! Disgusting. Especially if they look like people who came from a sewer.

Anyway, I know there are more people that you would hate in a jeepney. But the heck, we can’t do anything about it, but to wish that they try to be more sensitive to others next time. It is because it’s a public vehicle and we cannot just ask people to be what we would want them to be (or else we’re going to be categorized as the jeepney’s bitches). Bitch out discreetly. :)

Pilipinas Got Talent Season2 Grand Winner!Biodiversity in the Philippines

Hahaha! natawa ako kanina nung nakita ko to#livestream

Patapat Bridge

at the Blue Lagoon

Montage :)

Deputy Preidential Spoksperson Abigail Valte and Zambales Rep. Mitos Magsaysa exchange points over Twitter regarding the Aquino administration's disaster management efforts.one of my family friends went back to the Philippines for vacation and now she’s got a...

Pulag was my very first climb. I was invited out of the blue by my friend and I immediately agreed to go since I was trying new ways to challenge myself physically, and a climb to the highest peak in Luzon seems to be a perfect way to do so.

We took the bus from Manila to Baguio which was a good 6 hour travel if you travel during night time. We arrived at Baguio a little past 12 and we stayed on a little hotel for a few hours because we’ll meet the rest of the group at 5.

The next part of the trip was a jeepney drive to Benguet. It was bumpy so it’s pretty impossible to catch sleep on the way there. We had a breakfast on a road side diner and got some water and other supplies.

Diane and myself before the trek.

We arrived at the ranger station before noon and we had a little seminar with the lady there. She had a little presentation regarding proper mountain etiquette and other stuff. After that, we had lunch and we prepared for the climb.

Lunch before orientation.

The climb was not bad. I learned that the trail we took was minor one, and it’s perfect for beginners. 

Trail.

We arrived at the camp in the afternoon where we pitched our tents and had a little merienda.

Groupshot.

We ventured outside the camp to check out the vista and to take some pictures. We chatted with other campers out there and planned to go back to our camp a few minutes before night falls. We can already feel the cold air and I realized that tonight will be a long night. And man, was I right.

We had dinner at around 6. After dinner I went back to my tent and I was planning to get out to chat more. I am really feeling the cold air now and I didn’t go back out because of it. We haven’t ventured to the summit yet, and that was the plan for the day after. Well, that is if I don’t die out of freezing my ass off that night.

I somehow managed to survive the night. At around 5, I got up because I thought that it would heat me up if I move around rather than staying in the tent waiting for the sun go up.

When I got up, this is what I saw:

Frozen Trail.

Frost.

Anyway, the assault to the summit feels good because we were able to warm up our bodies. A few hour after, we we’re able to see the glorious Pulag summit. I mean, freezing our ass offs that night was worth it because of the view.

Sea of clouds.

Clouds.

We stayed for a little while at the summit. Enjoying the view. Basking in the morning heat. I saw my combat buddy on top too. He was with his group at his school and we also exchanged experience during the climb. They stayed at the saddle camp which I heard was much, much, colder than our camp.

Anyway, we went back to camp to check out the one who remained from our group. (There were only 3 of us who assaulted the summit). We prepared for descent and we took more pictures, of course.

We were able to get back to Baguio just in time for dinner. We had dinner in Session road and went to the station to get a bus back to Manila.

It was a great experience, and because of that, I am now addicted in climbing. :)

Photo from Ace Bright’s Twitter page

Coconut

@davidchoimusic: Kumusta Manila!! I hope there isn’t a typhoon tomorrow ha! Oh yeah, did you see the music video teaser? :)

I just love the way he says, “Kamustaaaa Manilaaa!!” xD

Last year I did a one month IBM Corporate Service Corps assignment in Manila, Philippines where I helped people how to create interactive flood maps of Metro Manila.

Yesterday, a friend and co-worker sent me the following message:

Here in PH, it has been raining for days due to a typhoon. Marikina is on standby for with rubber boats. Evacuation in some ares in Metro Manila have been done already. Classes and work in the government are suspended today. Still lots of flooded areas and heavy traffic. A dam in Bulacan has released some water and another dam is nearing its its limit.

Let’s hope that everybody will be alright after the storm is over. Finger-crossing!

More information available via:

• Overflowing Ipo Dam releases water; La Mesa Dam nearing limit.
• 7,000 flee as Marikina River breaches ‘critical level’.

16/52

Falcon, I enjoyed the day you came. But many people and families here in our country suffered because of your long stay.

Diocese of Baguio-Benguet Bishop Carlito Cenzon has criticized a local Christian church’s...

There’s so much foil in this trike, I feel like last night’s leftover meat. #philippines #manila #igersmanila #bibo (Taken with instagram)

Auntie Girlie and Auntie Baby’s Sultry Summer Make Up Tutorial!

Haha.

Where Has Summer Gone?

film: kodak ultima 100

-porkscrew.tumblr.com

Coconut

Photo taken in San Pedro, San Pablo, Philippines

a late-must-blog-experience! ;)

Day 84: By My Side

Went to see David Choi here in Manila.

Traveled to the North to meet and hear David sing under the storm. He sang favorites and a new song from his up coming album.

It was just him, his guitar and a handful of people who made it despite of the chaos that is the streets of Manila. During the show, he asked the crowd to come up the stage so it’ll be more intimate.

After the show, we just talked to him about random stuff. He was pretty down to earth and was just a warm human being.

I hope more people will come tomorrow (me and my boy will be selling merch tomorrow, hehe).

So today’s Friday, YES!

anyway, i posted a blog yesterday about how my day went well…yesterday, and if you read it you could pretty much tell i hated the living hell out of it. Well today wasnt that bad. Although waking up was pretty painful. The first thing my mum said to me this morning was regarding yesterdays event, the whole bastard. Anyway thats over now, thank god!

The day today went as planned there wasn’t anything that was really bad, well apart from the few goodbyes to some of my closest friends, but no tears were really shed, which is good :) The only thing that was went wrong today was the weather. Its basically rained cats and dogs for a few days now nonstop.
 

looks like it isnt gonna stop for quite awhile. 

So anyway, some of you mine not have heard that there is a tribute for Ryan Dunn on Saturday the 25 of June 2011. All you basically have to do is watch Jackass or Viva La Bam for a few hours. I hope you guys will join me? it will be fun! :) here is the page anyway http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=132409803505873

So thank you guys for helping me over the last few days, all your small messages have helped a lot x

It’s a friday night and classes was suspended today but the rush of the wind has been bugging me and making me nervous. The Marikina River is on a danger zone and we should include it in our prayers especially the people surrounding the area. God Bless the Philippines. God Bless all of us. 

xx

-R

Ps: pray before you sleep ?

proposed flag of Isabela Province

(except San Agustin de Isabela and Dimapigue)

been raining during our stay in Bantayan Island

P-ilipinas
A-ng
G-anda
A-stig
S-a
A-sya

8. Boracay, Philippines

7. Palawan, Philippines

6. Sydney, Australia

5. Canada, USA

4. Venice, Italy

3. London, England

2. New York, USA

1. Paris, France

Local News in RP about Same Sex Marriage = Discrimination to Homosexuals?: Kindly read the comments...

I know that almost all of us are so sick and tired of hearing those Typhoon Falcon experience … pero gusto ko talaga ‘to i-share sa inyo kasi first time ko lang talaga to naranasan at talagang sobra-sobra!

(06-23-11) That day was supposed to be a typical activity day at Adamson University, at dahil activity day nga, allowed kameng mag-civilian pero naka-school uniform pa din ako! XD RSO’s have activities daw nung araw na yun and may mga department meetings na rin, so ayun, wala masyadong ginawa, except for the seatwork in Circuits 1 Lecture and discussions in General Psychology and Statics of Rigid Bodies. I only have four classes to attend that day and my professor in Electronic Devices and Circuits Lecture said that we don’t have a class that day so maluwag talaga ang araw na yun. My last class for that day is the Statics which was supposedly ends at 3:30PM but because our professor is not in the mood to teach (for the secong time? :D), she dismissed us early at around 3:00PM. Hindi pa agad ako umuwi nun. I stayed in the campus together with my classmates for 30 minutes, we went to ST Quadrangle to watch the RSO Leaders & Members performances, nag-enjoy naman ako sa mga dance numbers kahit pano. :)

It was 3:30PM already when I left the campus and went to SM Manila to meet my cousin who was waiting for me there. We stroll around the mall for a while and bought some school supplies at National Bookstore. We left the mall and went to Park ‘n Ride at 4:30PM to wait for a bus. The waiting line seems to be a queue in a blockbuster movie so we just keep on waiting there for an hour, good thing that we had our Waffletime snack! Around 5:30PM when two Starliner buses arrived there and suddenly the blockbuster queue went through a somewhat stampede (medyo lang…XD) and we survived it. We got into the bus, sat at the almost-at-the-back seat with my cousin at the window side (my left side), and had a feeling of relief. But … it doesn’t end there and it’s just the start of our epic adventure! LOL!

The bus took the San Marcelino Street which exists to Quirino Avenue. Sobrang BAHA na everywhere! It took me 4HOURS to realize that we are in a VERY VERY HEEEAAAVVVYY TRRAAFFIIIICC at that moment! Our family even worried about us and they called and texted us. Well, i just enjoyed those moment spent waiting in the bus even if it is not worth enjoying. My whole body aches especially my head, my knee (sakto sakin yung agwat ng seats kayo sakto yung tuhod ko!), my back at syempre yung pwet ko! (sakit din pala umupo ng ganun katagal! … and how much more yung mga nakatayo diba?) Para ngang field trip/byaheng bicol mi stopover then dame nmen estudayante dun sa bus coming from AdU, UST, St. Scholastica’s College, etc. Wala akong ibang ginawa sa bus kundi matulog, gumising at matulog ulit at gumising or magtext at magsoundtrip, pero dahil dun, na-lobat ako kaya naglaro na lang ng games sa Ipod Touch. Wala kameng baon a pagkaen nun tska hindi rin kame makababa para bumili kaya sobrang gutom talaga kame nun!

Around 9:30 na siguro kame nakalabas ng Quirino Avenue and went through the Roxas Boulevard. Then akala ko (na naman!) na smooth na at dire-diretso na ang byahe hanggang Cavite, yun pala, mi isa na namang traffic! Almost 1HOUR din siguro kame dun sa may MIA Road/Coastal Mall intersection, at ayun, natulog na lang para lumipas ang oras! 10:30-11:00PM cguro nung makalagpas na kame ng Coastal Road. Diretso na ang byahe hanggang sa Bacoor, Cavite after nun. Nakakatakot nga lang dun sa may Cavitex dahil bangin ang dinadaanan at dagat ang huhulugan! :D Wala ng traffic hanggang sa Bacoor, yun nga lang baha naman ang sumalubong samen pero swerte lang dahil hindi baha dun sa kanto ng village namen kaya hindi namen na-experience ang lumusong sa kadiring baha tulad ng naranasan ng iba! :P

At exactly 11:34PM kame nakarating ng bahay! Sa bahay ng pinsan ko na ako dumiretso. SOBRANG PAGOD! SOBRANG GUTOM! na kame pagdating sa bahay! That’s why, pagkalinis namen, kumaen na kame agad then after ilang minutes pasok na sa bedrooms, higa, and TULOG agad! (zZZzzz —___—)

WE SURVIVED TYPHOON FALCON! XD Just Unforgettable! :D

The morning after that, I realized na malaki pala ang epekto ni Falcon at mas grabe pa pala sa iba compared sa na-experience namen! Swerte pa pala kame sa lagay na yun! So we must pray for now for the safety of all our Pinoy Kababayan and I’m hoping for a better day later. God Bless us all! :)