Start of something new

Sharing of interests, stories of where I've been and what I did. Insights, thoughts, learning that may be applicable and helpful to anybody in this world!

Monday, 12 September 2011

The Prayer

Santiago 1: 5-8


Ngunit kung nagkukulang ng karunungan ang sinoman sa inyo, ay humingi sa Dios, na nagbigay ng sagana sa lahat at hindi nanunumat; at ito'y ibibigay sa kaniya.


Ngunit humingi siyang may pananampalataya, na walang anomang pagaalinlangan: sapagkat yaong nagaalinlangan ay katulad ng isang alon ng dagat na itinutulak ng hangin at ipinapadpad sa magkabikabila.  


Sapagkat huwag isipin ng taong yaon na siya'y tatanggap ng anoman bagay sa Panginoon.


Ang taong may dalawang akala, ay walang tiyaga sa lahat ng kaniyang mga paglakad.


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Madaling sabihin, madaling isipin, pero mahirap gawin.


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There will always come a point in our lives where our Faith with the Lord will be tested.  The main root are the problems and challenges that we face in our lives.  May this be with ourselves, our family, friends, career or relationships.  It is ironic that our Faith is tested every time we experience hardships but where is our Faith when we are happy, satisfied and fulfilled?


True that when we forget, we are reminded.  
These are the times where even if the support system of our family and friends are there, you will draw your strength and determination from HIM.


I have never lost my Faith in HIM but maybe there were times when HAPPY moments occupied my time to thank and worship HIM for all the blessings that HE has given me and my family.


Now, I pray and commit to never forget to THANK HIM! He has always and I know will always be there to listen!  He will hear our prayers but it will always be in HIS time! That one we have to understand by heart.









Genting Highlands, Malaysia

One of the well known tourist attractions here in Malaysia is the Genting Highlands.  It is situated on a hill top, and one way to get there is via an estimated 20-30 minute cable car ride (3.38km).  It has the only legal land based casino in Malaysia, had Hotels and both indoor and outdoor Theme Parks. Also informally known as the Las Vegas in Malaysia.

We purchased our ticket at KL Sentral, RM47 that included the following:

1. Bus ride to and from Genting
2. Cable car ride to and from Genting
3. Ride all you can in the Outdoor Theme Park (not including the attraction rides)

Our bus was scheduled to depart at 8am. The bus does not wait for any passenger who will arrive late, thus it is important to be at the station at least 15 minutes before departure.  Bus ride took us 45 minutes to get to the place where the Cable Cars are waiting for us.

The cable car can fit up to 8 persons and since it was all our first time, we were all excited for the ride of our lives.  Too high and too foggy, we can barely see the forest.


(the noise was brought about by the excitement that we had) :p


After the ride, we finally got to Genting Highlands. The name never failed us because it was really a "High Land".




It was raining when we arrived and so our first thought was "How can we do the outdoor rides?".  Nevertheless, there was the Indoor Theme park that we can also utilize so as not to waste time.  We just needed to buy another round of "ride all you can" ticket for the Indoor Theme Park.


At the Outdoor Theme Park aside from the rides, there were game stands, restaurants, souvenir shops, Sweet potato stall, Ice cream cart, chocolate world, a stage for performances and a whole lot scene for photo opps.


This was shot at the mini bridge in the outdoor theme park.  
At their back is the pond where you can have fish feeding. The fog was huge!

There were clowns and chinese / korean looking fellows for more photo opps.


You will not get lost in this big theme park because maps are available, you can get one from the entrance of the outdoor theme park and decide quickly which ride you want to go first.  Sweets wanted to ride the "Sky Venture" but unfortunately, due to the bad weather, it was closed.  Nevertheless, there were a lot more rides to choose from so there was nothing to worry about (there will always next time).

We first hit the train in the Indoor theme park followed by the bump car where everyone bumped Ced! Peace :p

Then followed by riding the roller coaster and then the Grand Prix Fun Cart.

Before we hit the tracks, it is important that instructions are given. Being the "bibo" in me, I volunteered to do the demo :)



It's time for some action!

AZ in full concentration! 

Some kids fun! It is time to hit the waters!
Boating - it was cold and foggy!




Then some fun with the real kids at the Bump Boat!




While we were finding our way into the Indoor Theme park, we bumped into "Allie and Tabby".




It was so cold and yet Nelven and Mau still had their ice creams!



Click the Outdoor Theme Park Rides for more information.


Most of the rides at the Indoor Theme Park was for kids.
If you want to have a slow ride and just enjoy the scene inside, you can ride the Rio Float (which we did) or the Venice Gondola.




There were a lot of fast food chains so being hungry will not be a problem but you have to prepare yourself because there are a lot of things that you can buy. It is like a theme park in a mall.


We were not able to ride all available rides because of lack of time but maybe next time.  


The bus that will take us back to KL Sentral will leave by 8:30pm and so we have to take the Cable Car by 7:30pm.


It was so cold and still foggy so we were not able to see much of the view. Only when we were nearing drop off.




Our bus left at around 8:45pm and we arrived at KL Sentral at 9:30pm.




A tiring but FUN day!

Thursday, 8 September 2011

Surprise Visit



You will never know who will walk inside your house.






















Yesterday at around 8 in the evening while I was waiting for Sweets to arrive, this little fellow came in...



If my memory served me right, I haven't seen any butterfly yet during my stay here.  Even when we were at the park, what I saw were birds.


Thus it was definitely a pleasant surprise that "Whity" came all the way here to visit us.  Can a butterfly fly all the way to the 11F? Hmmm..


Anyways, I looked at it as a positive thing that "we" are always being watched by HIM and that HE will never let anything bad happen to us!


When he stopped flying, I thought that he entered our room and so I went in and looked for him, unfortunately I saw nothing.  At first I thought it was weird that he just disappeared (maybe I will be scared) and then Sweets arrived.


It stopped flying when he found his spot right in front of our bedroom door.
Sweets was the one who saw him.




I slept at 12midnight and he was still there, when I woke up this morning, he was no longer there.


Thanks for the visit Whity and 'til next!

Wednesday, 7 September 2011

Bohol Philippines

Blast from the past - November 2008


It was my first time to ride a plane and I was a little bit nervous.  It was also my first time to go out of town with Sweets where I did not ask permission from my parents.  All along they thought that I was in my dorm in Makati.


We decided for an out of town because:


1. We will be celebrating our Anniversary
2. We want to be away from work
3. We want to spend our time alone to deepen our relationship


Before going to Bohol, Sweets already arranged our transportation and accommodation.  This is one of the best traits that I love about Sweets, he is very organized when it comes to trips. It complements me so it worked.


When we arrived at Tagbilaran Airport, a van was already waiting for us and it dropped us off to where we will stay.  Our contact person for the van (for our tour) was Kuya Jun - +639176905627 not sure though if this is still his contact number, he was the one in charged of contacting our drivers and bangkero.


at the van


When we arrived, it was just about after lunch time.  We did not want to waste any time so we just rested for a few minutes and asked our driver to come back for us to start our tour.


Our first destination was Dauis Church.






Then we headed to Hinagdanan Cave.
We had a tour guide who came with us inside the cave and was the one who took our pictures.  It was his first time to carry our camera but knows how to use it more than we did!




There was a clear water inside but since I am not a fan of caves and dark places I didn't quite enjoyed it.  Well it does not matter because I am with Sweets.




Our next stop was the Panglao Church.   






More seats at the side of the church for the people who wants to attend mass.



A beautiful mini lighthouse just at the other side of the church.




It was about to reach sun down so we went ahead for our next destination.
The famous Bohol Bee Farm!




There were many things to see, of course the bees with their honeys.  I was not brave enough to hold them so we just took a picture of it!




Before we proceed for dinner, we went to another area within the farm but it was within the sea line. There were beach chairs and dining tables where you can also relax, eat and have a view of the sea.






Walking almost half of the day made us both starving and thus the dinner was a welcome treat for both of us.


 Ham and Baked Cheesy Camote
(Home made honey glazed ham served with organic garden salad) 

 Honey Glazed Chicken
(served with organic garden salad and organic red rice topped with broiled camote)


Our second day was full packed. We started it with a free breakfast from Villa Del Sol.




Our first stop was the Blood Compact (click on link for history).




Then next was the Man made Mahogany Forest.
It was like a shot for a postcard!





Amazing because it took a lot of years to have such wonderful forest. I wonder how many years it will take to restore one. I hope that we can start to make a difference by planting trees.  If we do not have a land of our own let us be active in participating in tree planting activities in our communities. We can all start by joining Plant for the Planet or checking our companies Corporate Social responsibility activities.


Next stop was the Butterfly Conservation Center.
At this point in time, I was braver than Sweets.  He can't hold it and so i did and I conquered! :p



The most awaited part of the vacation was to see the famous "Chocolate Hills"
Breath taking! I was very happy to see them and see them so close; they were just so wonderful.  My parents didn't know that we were in Bohol but because of that great scenery I was not able to contain myself. I sent them a text message saying "Ang ganda ng Chocolate Hills!".




We will never let this pass without a jump shot!




After that view, we had our quick snack and then headed to the hanging bridge where in after successfully crossing it a fresh cold buko juice was waiting for us.




Will we miss to see the smallest primate? Of course not!
Next destination was to see the Tarsiers.





That's just half of the day and it passed so quickly.


To bring back the energy that we lost, lunch was a very good idea.  Another attraction in Bohol was the Floating Restaurant at Loboc River where you will not only eat but you will be seeing the scenery of the river while being serenaded with songs.  We enjoyed it and we were so full!






There were several stops where there were performers and it was refreshing to see people dancing and singing our old songs.


Not to waste any time, we went ahead to see Prony.
This time Sweets was braver!




Our last stop for the day was the Baclayon Church and it was considered as one of the oldest church in the Philippines.






Just right across it was a mangrove, we sat for a while to rest and look at the view.




Our last day was as hectic as the second day.
We woke up early to make sure that we will catch our boat for our Dolphin Watching! Yahoo!



Beautiful sunrise - simply means life is good and must be enjoyed!


We were together with so many other boats also waiting for the Dolphins to play.






Unfortunately, none arrived. Nothing to worry about because there will always be next time. We then went to "Balicasag Island" where we took advantage of the white sand to take pictures!






After which we enjoyed freshly caught fish for lunch! Yum! When we arrived, we were welcomed by these blue starfish, so cute!






For our last night, we treated ourselves with a simple dinner.  We were both very tired and not to mention got sunburned when we hit the shores earlier.





In our three days in Bohol, we stayed at Villa Del Sol and we were very much accommodated by the owner, Kuya Primo.




The place has its beach part where you can do boating and swimming. It also has a free breakfast where we very much enjoyed!


Bohol is good place to spend ones vacation. A town with a very simple living and peaceful environment.