A Night full of KAOS

Friday, My 13th

Me and my friend was lucky enough to watch the musical play 'KAOS' at the Newport Theater in Resorts Word Manila. It was an experience of a lifetime.

The last time I watched a musical play was way back in college, that was in 2003(I think it was held in UP) entitled, 'The Merry Wives of Manila'. I find theater arts amusing, entertaining and full of drama. It is something out of the ordinary.

I first heard about 'KAOS' on one of the commercials being aired at a cable tv station (I think it was Feb). 

Since then, I told to myself that I'm going to watch this play. I researched about the storyline, the casts, and of course, the ticket. It was a reasonable price although I had to save up just for it.

My friend, who's a blogger and has a very close contact with Ms. J. Zafra, just got himself 2 tickets for KAOS, for FREE! We were so thrilled about the news, although we haven't had any idea about the play date nor the seat that he got, nevertheless, it was something we are looking forward to!

The play was held at The Newport Theater in Resorts World Manila. It was just my second time visiting RWM, and I must say, the place was truly elegant - world class!

The cast of KAOS was lead by Gian Magdangal (cousin of Jolina), who played as Walter, the handsome Prince who's in search of his one true love, Martha Joy, as Giselle, the Heroine, Walter's destined love, and Joel Trinidad as the interfering Advisor. The Manila Symphony Orchestra provides an awesome musical score that brings out life into the play.

Kaos is part of the menagerie of world-renowned animal performers, which includes Sito the white tiger and Betty the yellow tiger, all specially trained by Spanish master illusionist Enrique Polo, who also plays the Good Wizard.

The Defying Gravity Troupe from China and the Power Duo, a world renowned act from Belarus, will test the limits of physical endurance with their riveting performances.

Motorcyclists from Spain will do amazing jaw-dropping stunt work in the Cycle of Life, while the Human Time Machine from Columbia will showcase feats of superb balance and synchronization.

Hip Hop dance champions Philippine All Stars and electrifying dancers from Europe will energize the show with their winning moves.

It was a huge production and everyone did a fantastic job, from the main casts down to the staffs & crew!

The show was one of a kind and worth it. No dull moments, every bit of the play is really interesting. It was something I will never forget for a long time. Very grateful to have seen this play, and I hope everyone will have the chance to experience it too!

True friends, treasure from Heaven.

I had an awesome night with my 4 best friends last Monday. We seldom meet up because of our schedules, we don't normally text each other as often as before too, but what is good about our friendship is that, even though we don't see or hear from each other that much, when one of us is in need of someone to confide too, we will leave everything, just to be there for each other.


These girls and boys are my brothers & sisters. They are God's gift to me. They are my source of happiness and strength. I know God planned for us to meet and become friends since way back college and ever since, we are destined to become friends and to bring glory to God. I know that He is using these girls to let me know that He is around, that He is real, and He want me to be surround myself with godly people.

I have friends at work too, but they are completely different from me. They are not as honest, and faithful to God as compared to my girlfriends. Well, I'm not saying that they are not good enough, they are, but their values are different from mine. And it bothers me because I thought I could influence them, that I could be the light in that dark place, but sometimes, it is the other way around. Instead of me standing firm, being bold, and having the courage to do what is righteous, honest and pleasing to God, I'm being drag back to my old self. I'm not blaming them, or the kind of culture or belief they have, but I could've done what Paul did when he was in the same situation. Back when he was preaching the Good News to the Gentiles. He was mocked and was surrounded with unbelievers. But he remained faithful to his work and focused himself more to Jesus. But my case was different. I'm no Paul. But I know that God called me to do the same thing.


These girls are my treasure. They helped me to become who I'am today and they thought me how to become stronger and how to love wholeheartedly. I can't imagine being with a different set of friends. These girls are unique and we are made for each other- Treasure your true friends,  they are hard to find nowadays.

Wireless broadband, which one will you go for?

Have you ever been dissapointed with something (I'm pertaining to services like internet connection, online support, etc) to the point of smashing your table or screaming out loud just to vent out the uprising frustration? Unfortunately, that is what I'm feeling at this very moment!


And because of this, I've decided to make a review of the 2 most advertized internet-broadband connection that we have. This is to give some heads up to those 'would-be' consumers of my current broaband internet provider, to be more careful and wise in choosing the service they would want to spend their money with.


We use to have dsl + landline with Bayantel for almost a year when we decided to let go of both services because of the increasingly poor phone & internet connection (we normally loses internet connection even with slight amount of rain and our phone is really staticky most of the time). Now that I have my own laptop, I thought of just getting a plug-in usb internet device that I could use with my laptop anywhere I go. 
Being me, I decided to test the service first before getting it. Luckily, my friend has all 3 broadband kit (Tattoo, Smartbro & Sun broadband) and she allowed me to try them all first before I decide which service I would go to.


Smartbro Broandband

The first one I tried was Smartbro. All three broadband kit look the same. It is a usb device which is about 4-5 inches long, a plug & play device (meaning you don't have to install anything on your computer before it runs, it'll do it on its own) with an indicator light in front telling you whether your computer is detecting the device or whether it is already connected to the internet and they have this simcard inside (like the ones we have on mobile phones) that will be used to connect to their main server. 


If you're a first time user, after plugging the USB device, a program will appear on your computer screen that will ask you if you want to install it (you need to agree on some terms & conditions and you need to install the software on your computer to make it work) or not. It'll take about 3-5 minutes to install everything. You should see a shortcut on your desktop screen afterwards. If you're a prepaid consumer, you need to load the broadband first before you could surf the internet. 


Anyhow, the smartbro connection could run a speed as high as 2000kbps or 2mbps. If you would ask me, that's fast enough for a broaband-wireless internet. Considering that they are using a network-base signal (similar to cellphones). I'm happy with the internet speed I got from Smartbro. I was able to download mp3s in the span of 5mins. I was able to upload pictures (depending on the size) for less than 15 mins, and I was able to watch a couple of videos in Youtube (although there are times that it buffers) just fine. 
The only thing I didn't like (specially if you are a prepaid consumer) is the unlimited services they have. For a day of unlimited surfing, it would amount to Php 50, then Php 100 for 2 days and Php 200 for 5 days. I was hoping they could extend the expiry dates for each amount.


All in all, I'am very pleased with the service I got from Smart. I would certainly recommend it.


Sun Wireless Broadband

After having a very good experience of service from Smart, I'am a little bit expectant of what Sun broadband has to offer. I have this high expectation from the said company because of their advetisements. You could see their commercials every so often, telling people how fast, reliable and affordable their services. I also often see their employees on the malls, giving sales talk and encouraging the public to try their service.

But to my horror, the service was very, very poor! I'am totally dissatisfied. 


After installing the program on my laptop, I'am very excited and eager to try the connection. Again, my expectation is set way up high because of the advertisements. I opened my browser (I use Google chrome), and waited, waited and waited before my homepage came up! It took almost 3 minutes for the page to load! Don't get me wrong, but 3 minutes to open a single webpage which is already cache and saved on my browser is really slow. The worse part is, after logging into your account, the page didn't load up at all. It went to a 'page cannot be displayed' or 'connection error' screen and you have to refresh the page multiple times before it'll finally came up! I checked the bandwidth  which could be seen on the program installed to my laptop, and the data shows that the speed is only reaching up to 50-70kbps! It's like dial-up speed. You're lucky to get 100kbps once in a while. 


All in all, my experience of the service is not a good one. Personally, I would not recommend the service, at least here in our area. Maybe I need to consider something, like the location or the signal before judging the overall performance, but then again, I'am not really thrilled with the service I got. I just hope they would do something to their connection before everybody get pissed with the kind of service they offer.


Final word
I don't have anything against Sun or I'm not saying that I'm in favor of Smart. What I wanted to emphasize here is that, commercials/advertisement plays a great role when it comes to  deciding what kind of service a person would want to spend their money with. As a consumer, we are responsible in checking and ensuring that we get our money's worth. Just because a certain company uses a well-known celebrities to endorse their product, does not mean that it is indeed good. But we have to double check and be careful when choosing the service we want to get because in the end, we are the ones who will enjoy or perish and not them.

My new favorite - White Hat Yogurt

I'am not really a health conscious or fruit-lover kind of person and honestly, I seldom eat veggies or fruits. But to my surprise. I found a new love in the form of a yogurt!


I hear a lot of positive feedbacks about those people who enjoy their yogurts. Whether in the form of a shake (like the one they have in Kebab) or like the one made by Nestle (the one that has fruits on it)I always find it unappetizing (maybe because my taste bud find it 
too soar). But recently, I found out store that turned a simple cup of yogurt to a delightful and healthy dessert. 
This has changed my perspective about yogurt. Thanks to The White Hat, yogurt for me now is not as bad as I thought it is. ;)


I've tried a couple of different toppings to add up to my yogurt. Strawberry + Cranberry + Mallows, Blueberry + Cheesecake + Almonds and Brownies + Blueberry + Choco chips. All were delicious! But so far, my favorite is the Chocoloco Hat. I can't wait to have taste of all the delicious toppings they have at The White Hat :)

(Strawberry + Cranberry + Mallows)

(Blueberry + Cheesecake + Almond)

(Brownies + Blueberry + Choco chips)

My Cebu-Camotes Island adventure

After 4 days, I'm back from my Cebu trip. I could only describe my adventure in 3 words. IT WAS AWESOME! I can't really believe I've done this trip alone. It is an adventure I will never forget.


All my planning & budgeting was well executed (although there are minor changes & unexpected turn of events, but nevertheless, all was good). 
It is a good thing that I've separated my money for the hotel, transportation, food & souvenirs because it helped me budget my money and it allowed me to know whether I'm spending too much as to what is planned.




Going to Camotes Island
After arriving at Mactan International Airport, I went straight to Pier 1 to catch the 9am scheduled trip to Poro port via Ocean jet liner (I made an early booking reservation through Fine Travel & Tours which cost around Php 700-roundtrip, it always advisable to get your tickets ahead of time to prevent delay). Travel time from Airport to Pier 1 is around 25-30 mins (depending on traffic).Taxi fare (yellow metered taxi) was around Php 250. Travel time from Pier 1 (Cebu city) to Poro port (Camotes Island) is approximately 2 hours.

(Poro port)

After embarking at Poro port, my next destination was to go to Santiago Bay Garden & Resort (located in Brgy. Santiago, Camotes island) which is around 35-45 mins from the port. The only means of transportation getting to the hotel is by renting a service van from the resort (cost around Php700) or riding a habal-habal (a motorcycle modified to seat more than two persons) which is Php 150 per person (one way). The ride from Poro port going to the hotel is fun (although let me warn you, it's a long ride, and there are rough roads on some part of the town, so better be ready to feel some pain after the ride-which is, by the way, part of the exciting adventure), you get to see the very nice view of the beach, a wide vast of trees and the clean and peaceful town in Camotes.

(habal habal ride around the town)

Santiago Bay & Garden resort

After travelling 45mins from Poro port, we finally arrived at Santiago Bay Garden & resort. It was a very nice resort located in the heart of Bry. Santiago, Camotes Island. My habal-habal driver (Kuya Wendell) gladly took some time to show me some of the places I can visit (like the plaza & some nearby resto) around the town.

My 2D2N stay at Santiago Bay Garden & resort cost me php 2,000 (1000 per night) for standard, non-aircon room . The room was fine. It was clean, it has its own bathroom, but no TV. The only thing I don't like about the hotel is that mobile signal is very weak. I guess it is given knowing that the town is really far from any cellphone site.

(Santiago Bay Garden & Resort)

(Standard Non-aircon room)

I was not able to try any local delicacies there, which is very unfortunate for me. So I just decided to try the food being served at the hotel's restaurant. The menu offers both Filipino & American dishes. They have our very own Chicken Pork Adobo, Sizzling Gambas, Calamares, Breaded Porkchop, Buttered Chicken and more. They also have Pizza, Pasta and Desserts, The meals are just fine. Prices are reasonable (except for the junk food like Chippy or Piatos which cost around Php 40). For my 2D2N stay, I spend around Php 1000 for food (estimated price may vary depending on your choice of meal).

(Breaded Porkchop - Php 130)

After having a nice meal, I decided to take some pictures of the white sand beach of Brgy. Santiago. It was high-tide when I arrived there that's why the wide vast of white sand was not visible on my first day of stay. Another very unfortunate event was that, it rained during the afternoon which I didn't expect at all (well because it's summer). But nevertheless, the picturesque view of the beach, very accommodating hotel personnel and very nice hotel ambiance really made my stay at Santiago Bay Garden worth remembering,

Total Expenses (2 days, 2 nights):

Hotel Accomodation: Php 1000/night

Airport to Pier 1: Php 250

Oceanjet ticket (roundtrip): Php 700

Poro port to Santiago bay garden & resort (roundtrip): Php 300

Food: Php 1000

Pier 1 to Cebu city: 150

Total: Php 4,400 (airfare not yet included)

Too much planning is killing me!

(This is how I look like for the past week-seriously)

I think I'm overdoing it. Yeah, perhaps I'am. But I know you can't blame me, specially after knowing that I'm gonna going on this trip ALONE!
For my 26th birthday, I decided to have a little bit of adventure. Spending my day away from friends & family (not that I don't want to be with them ^_^). Celebrating it alone, in the beautiful island of Cebu!

I have visited a couple of places before with friends and officemates, but not alone. So this is very exciting, scary, thrilling and nervous for me!
Creating an itinerary is really hard (specially if you're in a tight budget). I had to check multiple websites, text some of my friends living there and making early reservations. I wanted this trip to be as smooth as possible. 
My 4 days itinerary has been revised for almost 10 times! (no kidding) and I've finally decided to finish and finalize it tonight. This planning and too much thinking is giving me headaches. This has become a source of stress for me (honestly, this has caused me migraines and eyebags). I'm not complaining though, I'm just venting out. :-)


This whole Cebu trip is teaching me to become more resourceful. It helped me realize that planning for something(not just a 4 day trip, but in general) reflects your personality, affects your goal and equips you to become more capable and ready for what is ahead.
I'm hoping that after this trip, after the countless itinerary revision, multiple inquiries and reservation, I could say that everything is WORTH IT. 


Let me show you how excited I am with my trip. I already packed my bag days before my trip (just to make sure that I'm not gonna be cancelling it or anything). 

Backpack (just 1 bag for my 4 days vacay)

My Itinerary 

A well deserved Bolinao trip

This will be my very first travel blog. I've visited a couple of provinces and some other tourist attractions before, but unfortunately, because of my busy schedule, I wasn't able to find time blogging those escapades. My most recent adventure was in Bolinao Pangasinan. It was our team building. Our assembly time was 4:00am, but because of our very own Filipino nature, we left Ortigas (our meeting place) at around 5am.

It took us about 6 hours from Manila to Bolinao Pangasinan (thanks to our super adrenaline-rushed driver),  which is considerably fast compared to what was told to us which is 7-8hrs travel time.We had our lunch at the town proper where we also bought our foods for our 3D2N stay. There was this old church, near the market, that reminded me so much of Barasoain church in Bulacan. There was a souvenir shop on the side and a couple of monuments and other man made sculpture around the church.

After a couple of minutes from the town proper, we finally arrived at our resort. It was own and managed by a foreigner (maybe her/his name was Bing) according to its care taker.

        

We rented the "kubo" type house that could accommodate 15 person (by the way, we paid it for 20k. No kidding!) for 3 days. It has its own dinning, cooking, living room area. All rooms (3 rooms in total, every room has 3 beds) are air-conditioned plus it has its own bath & toilet (which should really be the case). No cable tv available. But renting of videoke could be arranged (if I remembered it right, it cost around 700 for 24hrs) though. I would really suggest that you buy all you need (such as mineral water, tube iced, soda, bread, chips, & liquor) in the city before going to the resort because everything sold there is too expensive! (they sell ice for Php 5 each!).

But aside from the costly priced items and no cable tv, everything is pretty good. The picturesque scene of the blue-green beach really captured us. It was an amazing sight.

Although the sand is not too wide and lengthy on the side of beach that we stayed, the strong waves, specially during in the afternoon, made our day. 

The food was great too! My team mates grilled a couple of bangus (milk fish), tilapia and pork liempo. It was a feast! Really good food!

Our Bolinao adventure is really a well deserved break from a stressful kind of work and environment that we have in Manila. It was relaxing. We don't even want to go back to our real world after it. Well, everything, even a well planned vacation, has to end, But this won't be our last time visiting this place. This province has a lot to offer and we will soon find out whether Bolinao has come up to the challenge.  

(For more pictures of my Bolinao trip, visit: http://traveladdict0323.multiply.com/photos/album/1)