steinbach

our hosts took us for a road trip to steinbach, south of winnipeg. we had lunch at a.d. penner park and then take a dip at the indoor pool of steinback aquatic centre. here are some of the pics. the rest of the pics are at http://jolen.shutterfly.com/ontheroad/2623


it was windy and the wind is cold. aquim kept telling me he is ginaw. tita peng lent us her fleece jacket. we are still not quite familiar with the weather. people here are actually relying on weather forecasts and they are quite reliable. our hosts say when we've been here long enought, we will know what to expect when it says 18 or 12 or 22.
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one of the things i love here in canada, are the parks! this is the first park we have visited, the a.d. penner park. i'll google later what are the parks in winnipeg. this is quite a large park. one can play soccer, beach volleyball and has a playground.

aquim having fun going up and down the "mountain". actually it is just a hill.

trying out the swing. it's just sad that he doesn't get to play with other kids. maybe because he still doesnt speak english. but heck, most of the kids here at the park are pinoys. or maybe because he is the new kid in town. maybe because he is still too small for their games. hayy...sad.

but even if he is the smallest in the bunch, he is the first to try this zip line. and he did it several times until his hands hurt and let go of the handle on his 5th try. you can see the video on the link i posted above. a 5 year old gets to try this the first time, and he let go and he hurt him self big time.


after lunch and some play time, we are headed to the aquatic centre. it's just a few steps from the park. the centre opens up at 1pm and there are already quite a number of people in line outside.

here's after the door has opened. people trying to get tickets. the centre only has a certain capacity and if they have reached that limit, no one is going to get inside unless somebody else comes out. and if you get out, you have to wait and pay again if you want to come in. drinks and food are not allowed inside. this indoor pool is quite popular you have to pre-purchased a ticket to make sure you can get inside.

here's what inside. on the right is still another pool, similar to an olympic size pool, though im not quite sure about that. but it's just a rectangular pool where one can do laps. on the left, there is a hot tub and a sauna. i tried both. the hot tub is really hot. the sauna is like being in a small room with galvanized iron as room on a 12noon in our beloved country, that's how i felt.

this facility is quite strict. there are several roving lifeguards and supevisors. kids 7 and below should be within arm's reach of an adult. and if you stray away from your kid, the supervisor/lifeguard will really approach you.

one is not allowed to swim without a proper swimming attire. cotton clothes are not allowed. kids who are not yet potty trained are required to wear swim diapers.

the hot tub should have a maximum of 13 persons only at a time and the sauna 15. and they are really checking it every 3 minutes or so.

once, there was a kid who almost vomitted in the pool, about a spoonful or so and but he actually caught it with his hands. but when the supervisor saw it and asked everybody to leave the pool at once and replaced the water. it took about an hour before they let everybody back in the pool. hence food and drinks, even infant's milk are not allowed.

after a couple of hours, we went out and enjoyed the park again. jason and i kept telling each other that it was good we get to enjoy the philippines heat and beach one last time before we get here in canada. imagine here, we have to fall in line just to be able to take dip and a splash and swim ???


since aquim has no one to play around, we just contented ourselves sitting on the grass, collecting twigs and branches. too good aquim still enjoys our company teehee.

we leave the park around 630 and slept the entire trip back to our hosts' house. and slept more once we get to the house.

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save up, save up!

for a 4D, 3N getaway of 2 adults and a 3-yo child

fare: 42,000.00 PHP
hotel accommodation: 35,000.00 PHP (roughly)

TOTAL: 77,000.00 PHP

wah! wala pang food, pasalubong and miscellaneous expenses...huwahhhhhhh

cebupac, magfly na rin kayo doon, please??
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davao

hay, finally. naupload, naedit at nalagyan ko ng captions ang pictures. dun na din ang kwento sa mga pics, di na dito sa blog, magdodoble lang eh. heheh

in summary, we were there to visit jason's relatives. it's my and aquim's first time to go to davao and see jason's relatives on lolo jim's side. ang dami nila. i'm glad we got to meet them.although hinde ko sila natandaan lahat. hehehe

so our itinerary were decided by them and not us (jason and i) kaya sa palagay namin, babalik pa kami sa davao! haha dami pa namin gusto gawin at puntahan dun.

here are the pictures! enjoy!
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you know where this is?

yes, we were here for 4 days. pics and kuwento to follow. wah! dami ko na utang!

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makulot, 2000

november 2000, mt. makulot, batangas

tried mountain climbing once. never tried it again since. hahahha.. fun climb lang 'to. nagkayayaan lang over bottles of beer. o, diba, i was thin then. grabe, yung hita ko dito sa picture, braso ko na ngayon! wah! :(

click here to view the entire makulot album.

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bohol - day 4

nov 11. our flight is 1030am. medyo inagahan pa rin namin ang gising, para naman makapag swim and play pa si aquim.

while we were having breakfast, aquim was busy playing on the sand by himself. tapos me lumapit sa kanyang sexy girl na naka two-piece! whoa! nagpapicture pa sa kanya. sayang nga di ko sila napicture-an eh. as usual, mas gusto ko kumain kesa magpicture. hehehe .

habang nag re-ready na ang mga lolo at lola, kami ni aquim at todo swim pa rin. sinulit talaga. ayaw pa nga ni aquim umahon sa sea. sabi ko na lang sa swimming pool naman kami. si daddy naman, nagpicture-picture ng resort. nung nasa swimming pool na kami, paiyakan din para umahon si aquim. hahaha

kakaswim namin, yung sundo namin 3 beses na kami tinatawag, kami di pa rin ready para umalis. haha anyways, di naman kami nalate sa flight. as usual tulog uli si aquim pabalik.

sa house na kami naglunch. after which, nagligpit ng gamit, no time to rest kasi wala kaming yaya! tomorrow, back to reality na. back to office work at ipon uli para sa susunod na adventure :)

visit our family site and click the bohol 2009 page for more pictures

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bohol - day 3

nov 10. we woke up a bit earlier nonetheless super excited this day. we are going to see dolphins today, that's why.

just as the sun is rising, we were already at the shore waiting for our bankero. we had asked the resort to packed our breakfast so that we can eat them at the island.

kinakabahan kaya ako habang nagbabyahe. silently i was praying na sana, okay ang panahon at di magbago at okay ang dagat. okay ang banka. bonus na lang na makakita ng dolphin.

first time kaya ng aking anak na makasakay ng banka, at malalim ang dagat ha. when we sailed, i immediately asked aquim to put on his vest. hahaha kaya lang nairita at parang nasasakal siya kaya pinatanggal din. kaya naman todo-todo ang dasal ko. isang oras ding byahe yun noh!

pinagbigyan naman kami ni papa jesus. okay ang panahon at nakakita kami ng dolphin. medyo marami rami na ring banka ang nag aabang ng dolphins pero we are so lucky kasi sa pwesto namin sila unang lumabas. we had a headstart against the other groups. nung nagkakumpulan na yung ibang banca, nahiya na ang mga dolphins. hayyy.. happy. wish pwedeng magswim with them.

we had the dolphin watching near the balicasag island. but according to the locals there, mas marami and mas friendly ang dolphins sa pamilacan. oh well, next time.

after which, we decided to go to the fish sanctuary sa balicasag island nga. although hinde ganon kalalim, plenty talaga ang fishes! walang binatbat yung fishes sa batangas (san juan) nun nagsnorkle kami dun. dito, the fishes really swim with us.

since hinde pa marunong si aquim magsnorkle, nagpakain na lang siya ng fishes. hinde naman siya natatakot na makagat ng fish. ako nga nagugulat pa rin pag biglang kinukuha ng fishes yung sky flakes, siya carry lang. at mas matapang pa siya sa lola nya na hinde talaga nagsnorkle. ang lolo nya ay enjoy na enjoy talaga sa mga dagat. kami ni daddy ay salitan sa pag aalaga ka aquim. although yung guide namin offered us na sila na magtingin ke aquim while we enjoy the sea and the fishes.

nakakatuwa nga naman kasi. nakita ko si nemo at si dory. at pati ang mga anemone. na nagtatago pag hinahawakan mo sila. si manong guide, gustong gusto akong dalhin dun sa cliff na biglang magiging 100ft deep kasi mas magaganda raw ang fishes dun at mas malalaki. sabi ko ayaw ko nga. dito na lang, kahit maliet lang, enjoy na ko. hahah katakot eh noh. sabi kaya sa akin ni aquim, mommy, water lang yan. wah!

before 12 noon we headed back to the resort at dun na kami nananghalian at nagtulog. haha kami lang pala ni jason ang nagtulog. aquim contented himself playing at the sand. hukay ng hukay. si lolo at lola nya, binabantayan siya. ang salbahe kong anak, magigising na lang ako kasi binabato ako ng sand! kahit sawayin mo babatuhin ka parin. hehehe

nakakahiya nga kasi ang mga katabi namin na nakahiga ay mga foreigner at nagbabasa ng books or natutulog talaga. trying to find quiet and peace ba. tapos maririnig nila ang sigaw ko "AQUIM!" wahahaha

we also did try the swimming pool. parang today lang kasi talaga namin maeenjoy ang resort. anyway, it was a tiring but enjoyable day. kaya as usual, we had our early dinner and off we go to bed. we also watched our pictures and videos of the dolphin before dinner.

visit our family site and click the bohol page for more pictures.

bohol - day 2

Nov 9. kahit na medyo pagod kami kahapon, we still woke up early (6am) dahil today is our country side tour.

we had breakfast at around 7am. bread with butter and marmalade, scrambled eggs, longganisa, water melon, pineapple, garlic rice, daing na bangus, sotanghon, coffee and iced tea. after that, we briefly strolled along the shoreline.

by 8am, we got ready cause we will be fetched by our tour guide by 9am. at exactly 9am, andiyan na nga si gwen at kuya p. nakalabas kami ng room namin ng mga 920.

first stop was the blood compact shrine. bronze statues of conquistador legaspi and sikatuna. the other one is the priest and the 2 others are soldiers. si aquim natakot naman sa mga statue. pag naman namamasyal kami panay hanap sa statues. ayan pilit kinukuha ang sword ni sikatuna, ang dialog: di makuha ang sword. ang tigas.

next on the list: chocolate hills. according to gwen, dati raw, carmen hills ang tawag dito. because, they were mainly located on the town of carmen. mainly, kasi there are 2 other towns na me choco hills, madami lang talaga sa carmen. but when an american tourist first saw the hills, he called them chocolate hills because they resemble the kisses, and it stuck since then.

since rainy season, hinde sila kulay chocolate, mint covered sila, kasi maraming grass. nagiging chocolate colored sila tuwing summer kasi tuyo ang mga grass or walang grass at all. ang choco hills ay di talaga soil or lupa. they were a mixture of limestones and sea bed. apparently, submerged daw dati ang buong isla ng panglaw as in seabed sila. kaso since may mga earthquakes na nangyari, ayan umusbong sila. siguro ganon nga kasi i noticed na halos buong land area puro parang mga corals ang bato.

here are some of the folk stories about the chocolate hills:
- teardrops of a giant who were not loved back by his beloved mortal.
- pupu of giant carabaos.
- stones thrown by a giant from cebu to a giant from bohol.

next stop: butterfly sanctuary. we revisit our 5th grade lessons. ipinakita ang life cycle ng butterfly. inexplain ang difference ng mariposa (which is actually a moth) at butterfly. pati na rin difference ng caterpillars nila. ayan ang caterpillar ng butterfly. hinde sila makati, di mabalahibo, parang rubber pero nakakakiliti pa rin sa kamay. obviously, ako ang pinakatakot na hawakan sila.

and then, the actual butterfly. this butterfly only lasts 21 days. the other colorful ones , around 3 months, if i remember it right. kuya let us smell this male butterfly's pheromones. at ang bango, amoy vanilla! btw, inulan din kami dito.

magaling ang tour guide namin, pleasant. magalang. hinde masiyadong madaldal, hinde rin tahimik. informative rin ang mga sinasabi at may sense. sayang we didnt have a picture with her.

next: man made forest. these are mahogany trees planted more than 50 years ago. ang dami noh? they didnt grow wide because magkakatabi sila masiyado, instead they grew tall. ito daw ang ginagamit sa poste ng meralco. pero not the trees from here kasi bawal magputol.

we had our buffet lunch at the loboc river, a top the banca. there were grilled tuna, pork bbq, hilabos na hipon, langkang gulay, sea grass (?), pansit, rice, fried chicken, pinakbet, watermelon, pineapple, puto, suman. si aquim buti na lang nagustuhan ang suman. of course, umulan rin dito.

ang sarap mag cruise. malamig. and anglinis ng tubig nila. we even saw a couple of blue birds. flying freely. sa cage lang ako nakakita ng mga colorful birds. dito naglilipad talaga.

highlight was this singing and dancing group. we stopped by at them and puwede daw bumaba para magpapicture and to sing and dance with them. hahah, ang anak ko (at ang stagedad), ayan. galing kaya ni aquim parang marunong talaga mag guitar. we ended up buying the ukelele (php350). sinulit ang guitar, sumama pa sa 2-man band. hehehe

these are 5-10 yr. old tarsiers. oo matanda na sila, muka lang bata. ang baby tarsiers, newborn, is about the size of the thumb lang daw. and may-july ang birth season. cute nila kaya. gustong gustong hawakan ni aquim at ni lolo. buti na lang pag medyo hahawakan na ni aquim nakikita namin at napipigilan hahaha

biggest philippine python in captivity,si prony. grabe, ang laki nya talaga. 32in ang biggest circumference ng body? 26 ft long. 60kgs pig ang meal once a month. or 2 goats. taba. takot na takot ako ng magpapicture. sa taba nito, jusko, pag nilingkis ako, patay talaga ako agad.

baclayon church, oldest church in the region. 2nd oldest in the philippines. marami pa silang old church kaso di namin napicture kasi di kami nakababa ng car :(

we bought pasalubongs along the way na rin.

namiss namin ang beach so pagdating namin, naglakad kami agad sa shoreline. hehehe... me nakita pa kami seacucumber. since padilim na, hinde na napicture.

had dinner at 630 again. chopsuey again, fried lapulapu, adobong pusit, halohalo, iced tea, mango shke, pineapple shake, spag bolognese with garlic bread. tiring but fun, awesome, exciting day.

tomorrow, island hopping, dolphin watching and snorkleing. hopes the weather (and the dolphin) cooperate with us. if not, panglao tour na lang kami.

for more of our pics, please go to our shutterfly account and view the bohol 2009 page.

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bohol - day 1

Nov 8. woke up at 430am, we got ready and off we go to terminal 3 to catch our 830 flight. we immediately checked our bags in and ate breakfast at the 2nd floor.

30 minutes before our flight, we went to our boarding gate. but apparently, our flight was delayed. we just whiled our time: sleeping, watching the airplanes or just fooling around. nangingibabaw kaya ang boses ni aquim kakatawa while we were playing.

i thought, sa ground kami dadaan at magstairs papanik ng airplane. hinde pala, meron din palang pasukan na parang tunnel. as soon as aquim stepped inside the aquim, he kept on asking us:

asan ang driver ng airplane? asan? he even asked the stewardess: asan ang driver ng airplane? hehehe

tuwang tuwa ng makakita ng mga clouds. kaso, i dont know kung nahilo or what, because ang kasama nyang first timer sa airplane, ang lola nya, ay nahilo sa pag take off at pag andar ng plane, ayan nakatulog 15 minutes before landing.

nahilo man ang parehong first timer, nag enjoy naman sa mga clouds. kahit si lola nya, parang mga mountains daw ang clouds.

this is us boarding off the plane. this time, sa ground na kami dumaan. obviously, bitin sa tulog si aquim. our car service fetched us. malamig na crosswind ba yun? or revo. magalang ang driver at pahinante. makuwento rin.

when we reach the resort, dumaluan beach resort (2), ayan super enjoy sa sand. nagplay na sa sand kahit na hinde pa nakakapagpalit ng damit. we came in the hotel just after lunch time. so we had our lunch first of chopsuey, calamares, fried chicken, crab and corn soup. all of which, hinde gusto ni aquim. kumain lang siya ng konting chicken. ang hirap talaga pakainin. anyway, we caught this hermit crab before kami kumain and he was playing with it all throughout our lunch.

after lunch, we changed into our swimming attire, thinking we can swim right away. but ang inet ng araw so we decided to just play with the sand.

i wonder what are these pupu like sand formation on the beach. ang dami kaya.

here's us enjoying the sand, especially aquim. hinde mo talaga maistorbo. play ng play sa sand. busyng busy.

finally, we decided kaya na namin ang sun rays, we decided to take the plunge! aquim enjoying the sea for the first time. natuwa naman siya, in fairness. kaya lang, medyo maraming waves at sunod sunod at medyo malalakas. isang hampas ng alon, na nakaupo siya, hahaha salpok sa face nya ang sea water.

nakalulon ng tubig, masuka suka sa alat. hahaha pero sige enjoy pa rin siya. play uli. kaya lang medyo natatakot na siya sa waves. pag nararamdaman nya na parang tinatangay siya ng wave, nagpapakarga sa lolo nya. tapos siya rin ang nag sasabi na , "water lang yan diba?", so magpapababa uli. hehehe

2 beses kaya siyang natangay ng wave at padapang napasubsob sa water. hahaha. as in plakda. nakaka awa pero part of growing up. part of growing up ha, pero nainis ako sa daddy nya kasi feeling ko malulunod naman ang anak ko noh!

sandali lang kami sa water, kasi feeling ko magiginaw na si aquim. hapon naman na kasi, mga 4 na siguro yun. umahon na kami at nagbanlaw lang konti sa swimming pool. tanggal ang sipon ni aquim sa sea water. tulo talaga lahat. hehehe.

around 630-7, after we have bathed and changed our clothes, we had our dinner: no picture this time kasi while aquim is eating his dinner, nakatulog na! hahaha so salitan na lang kami sa pagkain. anyways, our dinner was chop suey again (request ni tatay), inihaw na liempo at fried beef. while aquim had carbonara with garlic bread.

for more of our pics, please go to our shutterfly account and view the bohol 2009 page.

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back from bohol

yey!
at last, our bohol trip finally pushed thru. yup and we're back, kahapon pa.
will post pics soon...
ang saya-saya! :)
pagod but ang saya. bitin pa nga! :)

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bohol bummer

just a day before our bohol trip, our agent informed us and said he was not able to book the family room for us.

tsk. i'm pissed. disappointed.

i'll just let jason handle this one.



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californication

april 26 - 10pm (MLA), off to LAX
april 26 - 830pm (PST), LAX; 11pm manhattan beach hotel (yeah, it took us that time to get out of the airport, with the long queue in immigration and customs, LAX to hotel is about 10 minute drive, we were fetched by a big ford suv -- i dont know the exact model). as soon as i've settled in to the hotel, i hit the sack.

april 27 onwards, 7am to 8am- already in the carson office to do the reason why we're here. good thing here, i haven't had any jetlag. heeh.. i think my body clock adjusted pretty easily. around 10pm till 12midnight, i'm already sleepy. 5am-6am, i can wake up easily.

work in the office usually ends up around 6-7pm. tricky part here is the sun is still up during those times so i'm (i only speak for my self, i dont know about the others) kinda psyched that it's just 4pm. so we always end up working in extended hours.

last wednesday, we went to an old navy outlet and checked out some stuffs. yesterday, we hit the carson mall and checked out jcpenney, old navy ... and jollibee! ehehe

we ate at tony romas and the one that was serving us is a filipino. a lot of filipinos in here.

breakfast and lunch are being delivered in the office. so we only have the chance to try the restos during dinner.

twice we just bought sandwiches from chevron's extra mile (version of our shell's select) and one time we ate at joey's grill. had breakfast at carl's jr and starbucks.

one thing i notice, servings here are upsized!

i'll try to post some pics as soon as i got them. you see, i brought a cam but apparently, i can't charge the batteries here. i just usually use the cam from my celphone. i'm totally dependent on my colleagues' captured photos. sucks. i know.

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:)

yey! after some time, i'm able to use again my (new) passport.

lamigggg

sarap akap!

cedie

aquim at tagatay

went to tagaytay right after i resigned from work.. yup.. im jobless..since december :)