Thursday, July 21, 2011

Shangrila, Boracay


I love Boracay. I would never never say no to a Bora trip. No matter how rainy and off season it is to go to a beach. If I had to fly across the eye of a storm just to get there. .why not, haha.




My perplexed husband sent me off to the airport on a rainy almost stormy morning. I assured him it was okey, otherwise the flight should have been cancelled, right?
My balikbayan friend wasn't there yet but arrived just on time before the check-in counter closed. Not so long a while, on board I already grasped a view of the island. The best thing ever, the weather had changed her mood. Definitely to a lot better beach weather.

At this point, I could no longer contained my excitement about our accommodation and have to fast forward >

V
V
V




. . cos we were staying at Shangrila, Boracay. .allright, just for a single day, then the rest of our 3/d trip would be at random hotel in station 2. But just the same, (even a day tour of this establishment would excite me same way), I was so ecstatic !
I was sure I would have my time to experience this luxurious resort in time. But never before I won in the lottery or an inheritance out of nowhere fell on my lap!
Well, luckily a best friend had already made her fortune way ahead of mine ( which is still so blurry,haayz. . ) and was so generous to share some with me. luluv you girlfriend<3




Anyway, on the way here, I was asking where the hell was Shangrila in Boracay? My recent trip before this was last year and I swear I've never seen even the shadow of Shangrila in station 1,2 & 3. Unless it was newly built only the early part of this year?
Wrong. It has been there since 2009 and I had never seen a glance of it cos it is tucked away in a private island in Brgy. Yapak. Not in station 123, haha.
Time was tick-tacking and we got half of the day only to explore the resort.




My friend had asked me to purchase for her (her money ofcourse,hehe) a voucher many months ago and stole almost 40% off the published rate which normally would cost about P17k a night. and up! a whaat??? Yap, that expensive! That's for a hotel room like what we stayed in.




Ask me now how much would a villa cost - around P30k a night!!! I told you, I would never ever afford this resort in Boracay.




Apart from the luxurious facilities of an ocean view room in the hotel. .




. . the best amenity really was the v-i-e-w, simply breathtaking!!!




Like in Shangrila , Mactan (Cebu, ). it also got its private beach. Tucked and away from the crowded station 123 of Boracay white beach.




Ofcourse. I should, would and definitely had to try the water here. I would never know, when will be my next time here, if there would be a next time, haha.
Limelight on me, please!!!! haha!




Then the dusk started to show. Time's up! And I had to go off the beach of the rich and famous, haha.




Wow! The night was young and we spent the rest of it exploring the resort. Dinner was simply divine- will post later at my food blog My 3rd & 7th Sense.

What The F???

I thought the following photos are uncanny .
Let me share my candid thoughts on each.
Hey no one is stopping you to formulate your own.
Have fun!



I guess this ATM machine is especially built for NBA players. If you aren't one of those 7ft.++, make sure to bring ladder with you when you make transactions here.



How d'ya think would I get to the next floor?



The train passes by daily, every 7:30 in the morning on the dot. Just make sure you finish catching the morning sun in the terrace by 7:29. .or else you will never see the sun shines again. .ever!



I agree - a lamp/street light post is such an eyesore when it is right in front of your house/building and needed some treatment. Having said that, I never meant this way.



Garage parking in these houses? Oh easy, no challenge!



CC TV



I get it_ space is a compromise.

Thanks to my friend Joyce for emailing me these photos. I had fun.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Retail Nature Therapy

You know when an urban mom is so under stress and would jump off to the nearest mall, she goes to her favorite shop. purchases a pair of shoes and maybe 2 to 3 tops. . beyond her needs but more as an   "escape from it all" . . I am not like that. I'm not so much into retail therapy.
I have my own retail therapy thu' . . definitely shoes and tops won't answer my need for balance when I'm under stress. I seek for nature therapy. This kind, I categorized it as retail like the retail/shopping therapy most moms do, cos usually it's cheap, if not free and accessible.



I'm quite lucky too to have a rural hometown as my default ground. So green and rural, you could just walk around without a penny in your pocket and you would absorb the same nature bliss one would get from an  out of town trip of  no lesser ( but can be more) than P7k/pax budget. If there's more to it, it's that_ "the best things in life are free".




Aside from my personal therapy, my girls are  happiest when we get to visit my home town.



It's usually very light to trek here. We just go out of the door of our house on our flipflops without anything in our hands.








There are sari-sari stores (local variety store huts), and sure bring some coins for liquids.




Not this kind of liquid thu', unless you are driving a motorcycle and you  need a refill . They are gasoline in bottles, haha.




I bet to my kababayans (townmates) who live here forever, this part of  town is just another street for them. A road they walk on everyday. But to my girls_ it's wilderness, already a little forest for them to reckon with.




Neither I would pretend I'm no longer in awe of the nature abound my town cos I'm supposedly used to them cos I am supposedly its own native child. On contrast, I am as wide eyed as my girls. Growing -up, I rarely had the freedom to reach these hidden nature treasures. Perhaps also because they were all over there everyday, I took them for granted.




Hanging bridges always amaze me. It amazed me more to find one in my own town.




Underneath is a live river, with real flowing water.





Also on this particular hot, arid weekend, we tried to add a little adventure. .  .




We took the challenge to reach a falls by taking a mountain sloped trail on our bare flipflops.

# On second thought, I decided I'll just share it next time cos this one has been too long already, don't you think so?



























Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Microtel, MOA

The other night, I attended an event at Sofitel in Roxas Blvd.  I was with 3 girlfriends and 2 of them live far from this area. It was 2am and all of us were too wasted to go home. After thoughtful yes-es (over phone calls) from our husbands we decided to check -in _ to Sofitel? nah!, no way that we could afford this luxurious hotel that night,haha.



We ended up in a standard room of the nearest and most affordable one among the hotels in the Roxas Bldv. area (which are mostly 5 stars ). It was in Microtel, MOA.



Microtel was not new to me. I had experienced some of it in Batangas, Baguio and Boracay. It has always been a safe choice whenever I was caught in "a dilemma of walk-ins". You know, like those unplanned trips without prior hotel bookings and  night outs like this night and time was restricted to acquire options. In such situations, I don't mind the safety of Microtel and its humdrum consistency. .



as long as they are consistent with the following : the beds are comfy, the room is neat and smells fresh with equally clean bathroom. And so far, so good.



I actually  found this particular branch ( Microtel, MOA) the next best ( to Boracay ). Although, I've only been to 3 branches so far, but personally I think _already I got some comparisons in my list. The best thing about this particular Microtel is ofcourse the location. It's in MAll of Asia.period.
The night (almost nearing dawn,haha) when we checked-in  our eyes were all half closed and didn't bother to look around. We all went straight up to the room and hit the bed in less than a minute.
Those photos above I took them when I woke up in the morning and found myself already by myself cos those thoughtful gfs had already eloped back to their homes, haha. Yes I was left alone to check-out. Good grace, the room was fully paid the night we checked-in,haha.
So while waiting for my  husband to fetch me, I made useful of my less than one bar battery until my camera died on me.


We were on the 4rth floor and looking out the windows_ this was the little view I had.


And this_ what's that ferry_ Metrostar?



Then my tummy started to make funny sounds. .which reminded me to take my complimentary buffet breakfast. My friends didn't claim theirs.. they went out too early for bf.



The buffet was serving at Millie's Restaurant, located at the lobby of the hotel. The spread had satisfying variants of bf dishes from breads and  jams, salads, bacon etc,etc, eggs, rice, fruits _ well it was fair enough.



The reception lobby got an interesting set of furniture.
Until husband arrived and I had to pull him up yet to the roof deck cos I want to see the pool before we check-out.



Going up, I noticed the hi-tech elevator, nice!



Up on the 12th floor where the roof deck was. The whole night was rainy which explained why all chairs were not set-up right.
There's a small swimming pool, elevated above this area, up by 7 to 10 steps of stairs, I think.But before I could take a photo of it, the cam died. If the pool was made bigger, it could pass as infinity pool and I think that would be a lot awesome.



And THIS? the only photo I have in the place, a reminiscent of a wasted me of the previous night. Then the cam died, haha.








Thursday, July 7, 2011

Ukay By Night


It was so nice to find an ukay-ukay tiange (used garments flea market) alfresco in Baguio City. The flea market was set-up at Athletic Bowl in Burham Park. I heard it was a temporary location.




Baguio is so populated with ukay-ukay shops. Madness, I thought the metropolitan was already smelled of old clothes. It's fun to rummage over cheap clothes and score good finds, but the crazy aroma of claustrophobic shops is so sickening, too heavy to handle.




So glad we were_ when we heard of this night market which  nudged us to pure cheap rummage fun. It was
under open sky and no more claustrophobic smell of old clothes.




look how cheap_ a dollar per garment. So apt for a random retail therapy of hormonal imbalanced moms,haha.




2nd hand barbies. I was surprised my daughters ignored them. Are they over them already? Just this recent Christmas the youngest daughter had it yet  in her wish list. Maybe not an ukay-ukay barbie?




In the end I was the one who went home empty of ukay-ukay haul. I was so tired ( I was consumed by the whole day sightseeing tour) to go over rack to rack. I just  joined my husband in the car eating street foods which were all over the park and waited our daughters finished their cheap shopping trip.


Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Bohol

A visiting friend (based overseas) had dragged me to go to Bohol with her for an overnight stay. You know me, I can't say no to a free trip no matter how rush and short, haha. Though not my first time in Bohol, I still got mesmerized by the natural beauties abound the island.



I got to experience this beautiful resort called Amorita Resort in Panglao, but only as a visitor. We didn't stay here. We were only invited by a common friend who was staying here.




I totally forgot my shades thu'. Couldn't help but to squint my eyes. Couldn't beat the sun who was so friendly that day. He was shining mighty and let us enjoyed the outdoors.



Saffron Restaurant, right beside the infinity pool facing the view of  Alona Beach.




Ms. Common Friend was generous enough to share us her ocean view villa which had a private  plunge pool, sundeck and a pocket garden all by herself. Oh my, when will I be rich?








In the afternoon, we were back to our not so fab but equally relaxing  resort in Panglao.





I scored a real beauty up above. .



a glorious rainbow.. sooo pretty, like some thoughful angels had connived to paint it in the sky.

I love Bohol.
will definitely come back real soon.