chocolate on my feet

hershey's chocolate foot spa. smells and tastes good...feels good too!

- philosophy salon, davao city

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2007 is best for tigers (yes!)

Happy New Year everyone! i know i'm 22 days tardy but at least it's not yet february hehehe...the past 4 weeks felt like i was thrown into a tornado of things. Everything happened so fast that i didn't have the time to review the past year and plan for the new year.

anyway, 2007 is the year of the fire pig. According to chineseastrology.com, it is the best year for (drumrolls, please....) TIGERS!!! yipee!!!

it is also a very good year for goats, rabbits and pigs; good for roosters, dragons and dogs; mixed year for horses, oxens and rats and difficult year for monkeys and snakes. OMG! snake si Fil :(

Here's more for Tigers: your "ching qi" (sexual energy) is at its peak this year as your soulmate, the Pig, surrounds you with an atmosphere of love and indulgence. Matters are felt primarily in the realm of the physical this year as your life palace of "unions" is highlighted. You'll desire to stay closer to home this year and redecorating your abode would be enjoyable and uplifting. Appeal is the name of your game this year and in both personal relations and at work, others are powerfully drawn toward you. This passion poses some danger and yet, such delightful opportunity. Magnetism aside, avoid confrontations with Monkeys and Snakes. Fil, take note: avoid confrontations...just do as i say and we'll be fine, ok? harharhar :-)

You're a tiger too? Let's see your monthly rating, 4 being the highest:
1-star for those born in may
2-stars for august, november and december
3-stars for january, march, april and september
4-stars for tigers born in february, june, july and OCTOBER

Using the theory of 5 elements, those born between Jan 23, 1974 to Feb 10, 1975 are Wood Tigers. The Tiger is said to have an Attraction Relationship with the Pig.

When they are together, the Pig will show more Wood characteristics. If Wood is your Lucky Element, then 2007 is a good year for you.

I am a WOOD TIGER, born in the month of OCTOBER (4-stars). Can you beat that? If all these are true, then 2007 is going to be an excellent year for me. Abangan...!

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Kuala Lumpur: the garden city of lights

January 1, 2007. It was drizzling when we landed at Kuala Lumpur airport on new year's day. We walked into the arrivals hall and saw a man in mandarin hotel uniform holding a card with Fil's name on it. We waved at him and he promptly took our luggage and led us out to a limousine. The driver gave us the usual welcome greeting, offered us cold towels and bottled water before driving off. The ride from the airport took 45 minutes...ang layo ha!

view from our hotel room

Contrary to the noisy new year mood in Manila, the streets of KL were disappointingly quiet and gloomy. I saw no people walking...just cars and tall buildings (sigh..) Good thing we had a close-up view of the Petronas twin towers, the world's 2nd tallest building, right in front of our window at the 18th floor and the Suria KLCC mall down below. An hour later, the sky cleared so we went down to check out the mall and the park.

We had a quick meal and took photographs of Petronas from the fountain area. Except for its height, it struck me as ordinary (like 2 giant corns standing hehehe....) but soon it was dark and in an instant, the surroundings changed: definitely the Petronas is best photographed at night!

Sadly we were not able to check out the other night spots 'coz we were saving our energy for the Angkor Wat tour the next day.

January 4, 2007. Got back from Siem Reap, Cambodia. Same scenario as last time: man holding a name card, cold towels, bottled water, limousine ride, hotel room with a view of the Petronas.

This time we visited Menara Kuala Lumpur, the world's 4th tallest telecommunication tower. For 20 ringgit each, we soared 276 meters and stepped inside the observation deck which offered a spectacular view of the city draped in colourful lights. And because Menara Kuala Lumpur is located atop a hill, we were even "looking down" at the Petronas.

Living up to its name "Garden City of Lights," KL definitely has all the glitter, glitz and glamour of an international modern city.

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losing myself in the Lost City of the Khmer empire

January 1-5, 2007. I am not an Angelina Jolie fan but eversince i saw her Tomb Raider movie i never stopped dreaming about going to Siem Reap, Cambodia to see Angkor Wat, said to be the "lost city of the Khmer empire." So when Fil opened the idea of us vacationing outside the Philippines, i gave him no chance to think about going anywhere else but Siem Reap.

Now where do i begin to talk about this once-in-a-lifetime must-have experience, a realization of my long-time dream... recommended to be in everyone's bucket list?  Let me try.

Siem Reap via Kuala Lumpur

No direct flight from Manila to Siem Reap so we had to go there via Bangkok, Singapore, Vietnam or Kuala Lumpur. We planned the trip late so Bangkok was fully-booked, NO to singapore 'coz i was there last year, NO to Vietnam 'coz Fil's been there before and so our choice was Kuala Lumpur.  Fortunately, Air Asia has synchronized flights from Manila to KL to Siem Reap and back so we flew Air Asia all the way. The KL stopover was a bonus 'coz we got to see the Petronas twin towers. But of course, we saved our energy for our main destination: CAMBODIA!

While Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia, tourists flock to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat and the other temples. They do not have malls and tall buildings but they do have Caltex gasoline station with StarMart and the main street is lined with so many five-star hotels left and right. Currency used is the US dollar and major mode of transportation is the tuk-tuk although we missed riding that 'coz we took the car pre-arranged by the hotel.

Downtown Siem Reap is only about five kilometers away from Angkor Wat and all it takes, really, is 10-15 minutes to cross over from the modern comfort of a luxurious 21st-century hotel to the mysterious splendor of the earliest centuries, as far back as the 9th century.

Angkor Wat

It is the most famous of all the temples in Siem Reap. The whole complex covers 81 hectares and the temple has 5 towers. As you enter the gate, you only see 3 towers. You see 4 if you turn left halfway towards the direction of the lake...a few more steps and you see 5. When you look at the temple's clear reflection on the lake, you see 10 towers. Magic!!!

Angkor Wat on a beautiful day (January 2, 2007)

Angkor Wat was said to be built by King Surayavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. About 1,500 apsaras (celestial dancers) decorate its walls, each apsara unlike the others. Its 5 main towers can be reached by steep stairways with a 70-degree angle and a visit here is not complete without ascending the steps. When i saw the stairway and our guide told me that part of the tour is to climb the tower, i shook my head then he said, "if you don't go up, you will not see anything..." (ipa-guilty ba 'ko!) so after resting for 10 minutes and looking at the ascending tourists, up i go. 

It was a dizzying, scary, uncomfortable experience. Maybe because i wasn't comfortable in my new pair of shoes and white capri (bakit ka kasi nagputi??!!) or could be because my bag was heavy.  Actually, I was more conscious that all tourists resting below were looking at me and waiting for me to miss a step and fall.  I was literally crawling and sweating; the steps were eroded and dusty...i looked down i saw my thighs, i looked up and i saw more steps and the butt of the european tourist. Behind me was Fil, my one-man cheering team and photographer (he knew i'd do anything for a picture...) Shucks! wala ng atrasan ito...I reached the tower safely and was rewarded with a great view of the complex and the sight of those tourists who decided not to climb. Come up here, you cowards!!! hehehe...I felt proud and triumphant and stayed there savoring the view while waiting for Fil to join me.

descending the tower is as tough as climbing it

Up there we saw more statues (with missing heads), chambers and courtyards lined with apsara dancers. Going down was another problem...our lives depended on a slippery one-inch thick stainless railing. Whew! one good thing about being single and childless is you can do death-defying stunts without worrying about your kids hehehe...anyway, i strained my leg muscles after the climb and i was limping and aching for my every step for the next 5 days...tumatanda na talaga ako!  Those who have more time in Angkor can do a closer scrutiny of the interesting bas-reliefs. On one wall, the Indian epic Ramayana was etched in stone! If archaelogists/ historians/stone carvers (and their relatives) have a Disneyland, this would definitely be it!

Sunset at Bakheng Hill

We were told that anyone visiting Siem Reap should not miss climbing the hill overlooking the Angkor wat area to catch sunset...and obviously everyone knew that because by 5:00pm, the temple on that hill was filled with tourists getting snapshots of Angkor Wat on one side and the sunset on the other side. I myself was confused because the location of the setting sun was too far from the Angkor wat complex but Fil told me "schooled" photographers have their way of playing with light. Anyway, sunset wasn't really spectacular or romantic because it was hazy and there were too many noisy tourists. The fact that it was a tough climb to get there made it even more unworthy. But it wasn't as if we were not warned! I'm sure everybody knew that this sunset would be "so-so" but tourists went anyway for experience. 

Bayon Temple

Built in the 13th century as the state temple of King Jayavarman II, it is unique for its 54 towers decorated with over 200 smiling faces. Here, you could go in and out of its many nooks and crannies, appreciate the creative bas-reliefs and have your picture taken with the smiling face of your choice. A few steps from Bayon are Ba Phoun and the Elephants Terrace.

Ta Phrom

Ok, so this is what they've been talking about: Ta Phrom, the site of Angelina Jolie's movie "The Tomb Raider." Here, we saw big trees snaking their way between the temple's stone blocks. Creepy...but i liked it. kakaiba talaga...ang puno na tinubuan ng temple hehehe
       

Tonle Sap Lake

We were supposed to do more temple-viewing in the afternoon of our 2nd day but our tour guide suggested we go to Tonle Sap Lake so we can see something of Cambodian life.  The road to the lake was dusty and from where we took the boat, the water was dirty and muddy. Tonle Sap Lake is the largest freshwater fishery in mainland Southeast Asia. Known as the Great Lake, it is said to measure 2,700 sq. km in the dry season to approximately 16,000 sq. km. in the wet season when water is pushed from the Mekong river to the lake. WOW! It supplies the basis of life to the local people and is an ecological hotspot designated as a UNESCO biosphere in 1997.

It was like a show. We were cruising quietly and the water village people were doing their usual everyday thing: selling and transporting goods, rowing, sleeping on a hammock inside their boat houses, washing clothes, bathing. We also passed by a floating catholic church, school, office. I felt bad seeing how simple & difficult life is for these people. It was a humbling experience...made me appreciate the good things I have back home. We stopped by a tourist village which has a platform where we saw an impressive view of the entire lake...it's so wide i didn't see the end of it.

After the lake cruise, we checked out Artisans d'Angkor where we watched skilled artisans at work and purchased some souvenir items.


for our finale: Sunrise in Angkor Wat
The thing is you have to leave your hotel at 5:30 am and position yourself anywhere in the Angkor Wat complex to wait for sunrise.  So did everybody else because by 6:00am, the whole complex was already full of tourists, positioning themselves and pointing their digicams to the temple's towers. When the sun finally came up, Fil and i went closer for more pictures. For a few seconds i did nothing but stare at the temple, admiring its quiet grandeur. It was an edifying experience, felt like being honored by the presence of God (or Buddha?). It was our last day in Siem Reap and I didn't regret at all that i woke up early to see sunrise. It is, in my opinion, the best way to end a short visit to this side of the world.

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ancient & modern towers

light coming from the rising sun uncovers the mysterious 5 towers of Angkor Wat


Siem Reap, Cambodia
January 2-4, 2007






when night comes, the Petronas twin towers stand tall in the Garden City of Lights

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
January 1 & 4, 2007

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necessary goodbye

i know, i know. there's no reason for me to be sad. a farewell is necessary before we can meet again.

no miles can truly separate us...for just the thought of wanting to be with you, am i not already there?

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dinner with best friends

it is not everyday that you get the chance to have dinner with your boyfriend and two of your best friends. last tuesday, january 9, it happened to me when Candy and Gracie, joined me and Fil for dinner at Masas in Greenbelt 2. Candy's husband Colins joined us later and we got a surprise laugh when we introduced them to each other: "Fil, meet Colins...Colins, meet Fil" oooopppssss hahahaha! FIL COLINS! :-))))

after dinner we went to The Fort for coffee and some sinfully delicious desserts at Cafe Puccini. hmmm, candy's tiramisu tasted good, and my panacota too! i also tried Gracie's new york cheesecake...heavenly!!! Fil, as usual, ordered his walang kamatayang chocolate cake. before we left, the cafe's singing trio serenaded us with our requested love songs. simply heartwarming!

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MYMP live!

just got home from watching MYMP live! at 19East in Sucat, Paranaque. it was like listening to MYMP songs in my iPod except that a few steps infront of me was Juris and her band. Juris also sang some songs from their new album "New Horizon", my favorites of which are Only Reminds me of YOu, Nothing's Gonna Stop us Now, You Got it All and Crazy for You. Hmmm, all remakes...is this a sign i'm getting old? yaiks!!! Their original single, With You, sounds good too. They ended the show with the song that made them popular "Tell Me Where It Hurts."

Fil bought a copy of the new album and waited in line to steal Juris for a few seconds for her autograph and a picture.

What a smile! got something to show off to his pinoy friends back in the States hehehe :-)

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our moment with the Pacman!

Fil and i were in General Santos City last December 27-29 to attend Grace's wedding. But i had more reasons to be there: to reunite with my former classmates and friends and see for myself how the city has changed since i left in 1991 (actually i was here for only one night in 1997 but i consider it not counted).

It was nonstop fun! dinner at the bride's residence and bridal shower till 1am, morning meeting with college friend Amy, tour of the city, stopover at my highschool campus for some quick pictures (nakakaiyak, it's been 15 years!), wedding and reception, to the hospital after the wedding to visit fil's cousin who gave birth, gimmick at babes bar with sharlene till 3am, 30-minute chat with my friend Arnel before we left for the airport.

And LUCK was with us! On our very first day in the city, about 4 hours after we arrived, we had a close encounter with Manny Pacquiao! The hotel elevator opened at the 2nd floor and PACMAN was there looking straight at us. PICTURE!!!

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Finally, CAMIGUIN!!!

20-22 December 2006. For our pre-christmas activity, Fil and I decided to drive from Davao City to Camiguin with his parents and friend Eric. We left Davao City at night and drove for 7 hours to catch the early ferry trip from Balingoan Port in Misamis Oriental that brought us to Camiguin within 45 minutes. And aren't we lucky? playful dolphins escorted us as we entered the Camiguin channel and a full rainbow welcomed us to the island!

Camiguin is a pear-shaped volcanic island with a total land area of 238 sq. kilometers and is famous not only for its natural beauty but also for its sweet lanzones of which they hold a festival during the month of October. The island is so small, we literally circled the whole of it in a few hours! We stayed at Paras Beach Resort for 2 nights, said to be the best in the island.

We visited the usual tourist sites:
White Island (where we ate breakfast and i had fun running around in my bikini - you should see my videos hehehe), Katibawasan Falls, Ardent Hot Spring (although water was disappointingly lukewarm, not hot), Sto. Nino Cold Spring (really, really cold brrrrrr), ruins of the old church and the Sunken Cemetery. Anywhere in the island we could see Mt. Hibok-hibok and the other 6 volcanoes said to have caused the creation of this island due to volcanic eruptions and land movements. We also visited some of Eric's and Fil's relatives and friends of his parents and had a surprise lunch at J&A Fishpen, surprise because we went there to take pictures but ended up ordering whatever seafood dish they could offer.

yeah, we had so much FUN! Camiguin...wish i could "come again!"

_____
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