It's not Trick or Treating that I miss

If you want to make me cry, you cannot use this topic to bring tears to my eyes. It's a moment in my life that I for a long time endured and accepted. I poured all the tears the day he bid his last goodbye but a moment I was not on his side.

He was strict but loving. He never failed to bring me a slice of custard cake when he gets his paycheck.  I tagged along when he's going out of town. I accompanied him when he visits his friend. I helped him watched the chickens in the poultry. I watched him cut bamboo trees to make a chair. He let me borrowed his racing bicycle. I am his avid fan when he played  baseball. We strolled town after town pedaling our bicycles. He loves coffee.

On December 15, it will be 10 years since he's gone. I didn't notice it's been that long. Maybe because I am still keeping him and his thoughts alive in my heart. And I know we didn't waste anytime of our time together.

But today is different. I was too emotional which is not usual for me. It maybe because I will not be there tomorrow to light a candle, bring him flowers and offer my prayers. I terribly miss my father.

I don't give a D*** F

Last time a good friend of mine told me she likes my picture on twitter. She said it implies the attitude of "I don't give a d*** f****** care". Thanks to her I came up with a post, hahaha.

"Nobody can hurt me without my permission"

Above is a famous line from the famous Mahatma Gandhi. I have it on file since the day I don't remember when. I love collecting quotations and inspirational messages either from famous or unknown scholars.  

Why am I writing about this? Maybe you're thinking I am in pain right now or is suffering from depression. Don't panic, cause I don't.  Coincidence also works in mysterious ways because when I go over the quote above, someone also educated me with a psychological fact (according to her) that "emotional pain only last for 12 minutes and anything after that is self inflicted". Ouch!

Ouch!!! Because I suddenly realized what I did to myself when I let people hurt me. I gave them the permission to take away years of my life.  I was a bad caretaker of myself.

But that was the case before when I have no control over my emotions. Now I choose to be proactive. I want to make the best out of those emotions, let them bring out the best in me by focusing on the lessons rather than the pains.  That doesn't mean I'm invulnerable.


Letting yourself feel the pain in a matter of time will help in easing the pain itself. Time will come you'll realized you're just punishing yourself by letting yourself sulk and you'll be encouraged somehow to get going and let bygones be bygones. It's just letting yourself cry when you have to and after letting the tears fall down, all that was left were clean eyes and a light heart.

for your viewing pleasure this is the picture

please bear with it.

Baguio's Mines View Park

The journey back to Baguio continue. We arrived in Baguio after long 6 hours of travel probably around 6 p.m. Sorry I wasn't able to check the exact time because I was so hooked looking at the houses covered with fogs. We can't barely see what's around us and I am also nervous at the same time. We get off the bus and our hotel is situated along the road so no sweat even though our bags were really heavy. Besides, there's no room for sweat in Baguio - hahaha!

I won't bore you with any of my words. Without further ado, savor yourself with the photos I got. Please bear with them and with me

the view on the back porch of our room

Me with an umbrella because it's raining. Wait till you see what we have down the park

Mines View Park, the place I was so afraid when I was young (afraid of heights)

Back then, I was so delighted to see the kids maneuvering on big rocks and towering heights

to catch the coins thrown by tourists never aware that that would cost their lives.

Now the said practice was prohibited by the local government to protect the lives of the kids as well. Thank God.

Mines view park covered with fog. Mountains were not visible and it's cold.

Mines View Park. Same as above minus the fog. We go back to the place the second time, because the fog and the rain didn't let us enjoy on our first time.

Travel with Comfort

When I was 5 years old, I lived in a cool high place, where the weather is nice and the wind is so cold even when the sun is so high. The summer capital of the Philippines, Baguio.  I remember how afraid I was because the houses were built on the mountain slope. 5 years old, that was the last time I set foot on that place until we're able to arrange a trip back to Baguio.

The place is far from Manila and the only means to be there is to travel by land for almost 6 hours through buses or private cars. But the road is zigzag and it's safe if well practiced drivers were the one to take you there. So with that being said, we opted to entrust our lives to Victory Liner.  We're on the bus station by 10:00 something in the morning and purchased our tickets. You can also reserved tickets 8 business days before your departure. I would suggest that you order the tickets ahead of time because their De Luxe buses travels just 4 times in a day so the chances of you ending on a regular air conditioned bus is high.

the waiting area for the passengers of Deluxe buses
it has television and it's air conditioned.

while waiting for the bus, my bags deserve a shot

going aboard the de luxe bus
a 29 seater air conditioned bus with stewardess,
portable toilet and wi-fi.
Non stop travel, hooray!

Our departure time was 12:20 p.m. And in all fairness they strictly followed the time. Some might say this was luxury but for us who came from work, graveyard shift, sleepless and tired, I think we deserved this. Just look how big the seats are, you can bent them so you can sleep well and each seat has foot rest. Because our plan was to sleep the entire 5 hours of travel. But that didn't materialized because we're busy looking out the window and savor our eyes with the view. They also serve snack in the middle of the trip. So with a little/big difference from the fare of the regular air conditioned bus, I think it's all worth it especially we traveled with heavy baggage.  

P.S. this is such a long story, I don't know where to start. More post about the places we visit on the next post.

Wazzup Tokyo Tokyo?

Where should I start? I've been losing my blogging spirit lately and before my blogging soul separates from my body, I will share with you one of the fast food chain I love to dine. 

I am not a fan of Japanese food but one of my companions love this place and the food. Even I disagreed, I couldn't disagree harder. This was his favorite place and every time we dine out, it was his choice. I remember ordering the same set of food as always because I was afraid the food wouldn't suit my appetite but I was wrong. Little by little I gave in.

Due to unnecessary circumstances I ignored Tokyo Tokyo for a very long time. It's one of the places I never dared to look back. I had a love and hate relationship with the place...ha-ha-ha! You can't blame me right?

But earlier this year, I gathered all the energy within me and visited the place again. Of course I weighed myself and my feelings. Though afraid at first, I still continue walking towards the entrance. Inch by inch I get closer and I felt nothing but a sudden urge inside to say "Wazzup Tokyo Tokyo, it's been a long time, nice to be here again".

Hooray!!! I entered the place again with a happy face and a smile not only in my lips but also in my soul.  

While waiting for my food (vegetable and shrimp tempura), I let my eyes wander. That's when I realized that the place was renovated. The ambiance is new and refreshing just like what my heart felt. Like I had a brand new heart which is so light and jolly.

P.S. I had a great time in Baguio. Vacation really do good not only for the body but for the soul as well. I am still gathering my thoughts regarding the trip and will write about it soon. My lazy body had a fusion with my lazy mind - hahaha :)

Part 3 - An Adventure I won't forget

the continuation of the saga of my almost trip to heaven.  To refresh your memories, you can go back here .


Third Day: The Island of Borawan

The only option left for us is to take a detour to the nearby island named "Cutcutan". Upon hearing the name of the island, I stared to one of my buddies who used to live in our province. In our local dialect the meaning of the name of the island is "Libingan" or cemetery. But of course we stayed quiet. We don't wanna add reasons for our buddies to freak out, knowing that we're actually freaking out. The boatmen carefully navigated the boat onto that island where we ate our lunch but we already lost our appetite. With that situation, we're left with 3 options:

1. Trek to Borawan Island via the port for 2 hours.

2. Walk along the shore till we reached Borawan which isn't too far...that's what I thought

3. Take the chance of risking our lives again by going back aboard the boat and declare amok with the waves....which we all thought wasn't a good idea.

We all go for option 2. We took a walk until the boat fetched us on the side where it is safe to ride again. Well for me, I still have the fear factor and if anyone would accompany me, I would rather continue walking till we reach  Borawan. 

Below is the shore were we opted to take the walk. The rock formation are wonderful

And he even manage to strike a pose. Yep, we made fun of the situation. Better take the opportunity to enjoy rather than welcome wrinkles, right?

The entire day was really hectic and fearful. As we reached Borawan, we're already tired. We camped beneath the huge rock formation and in front of us is the sea shore. We fell asleep with the sound of the waves and gecko as lullabies.

our camping site and our tent. mine is the second from the left

the view of the ocean inside the tent

and woke up in the morning with this view 

a morning greetings from the sun

this scene was spectacular

me and my buddies

And the  jump shot

After long and tiring days we're happy and blessed that finally we stepped our foot onto the land again after our almost trip to Heaven.