WOW BOHOL!

I spent the holy week in Bohol! A lot of people have been to there so I’m not even going to attempt to sound as if it’s a unique experience but the awesome sites deserve to be credited.

Now that I’m “officially” a trained tour guide, I appreciate much more having a very well trained one (Thanks Gary of Alona Kew). It was 2 years ago in Shanghai that I’ve first experience a guided city tour. It was the worst travel experience ever due to his unprofessionalism. He totally ruined Shanghai for us! We felt that we would be better off exploring the city by ourselves.

One of the places you should go see is the Man-made Forest. That area used to flood a lot, and so the governor said that each person in the island of Bohol should plant 1 tree, either a Mangrove tree (near the river) or a Mahogany tree (around the mountain). Up until now, they still practice this, for the kids who graduate from the 6th grade; before enrolling into high school, they would have to plant a tree and get a certification from the DENR.


It is also in Bohol you will find the commemorative statue of the Blood Pack between Conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and Datu Sikatuna. Although the area where the statues are situated is not the exact place where the actual blood pack happened, it is actually less than a kilometre away in the town of Loay.


You cannot say that you have been to Bohol if you didn’t go see the Chocolate Hills. There are 1,268 hills. How then did these natural phenomena happen? Some geologists excavated at least 5 hills and found out that the hills were actually made from coral and shell fragments, which means that this area of Bohol was actually used to be underwater!


After the Chocolate Hills, we went to visit the Tarsiers. They eat insects like crickets (you can buy crickets to feed the tarsiers in the sanctuary). The average life span of a tarsier is 20 years. Unlike their cousins the monkeys, they are loners and do not like to socialize much. Tarsiers also do not have peripheral vision, meaning they only see what is in front, that is why Mother Nature gave them the ability to turn their heads 180 degrees left and right. Tarsiers, if you remove them from their habitat in Bohol, they will die, not because of natural causes, but because of suicide. Tarsiers have suicidal tendencies when they are away from their homes (meaning, Bohol). They have heads as soft as a new born baby and they will bang their heads until they bleed to death, and sometimes they will drown themselves in a puddle of water.

After looking at the Tarsiers we went to the Loboc River and went to eat at the floating restaurant. The river was soooo clean! They have strict rules about polluting the river and the streets. The streets in Bohol are very clean, Japan clean, Singapore clean! When the police catch a person throwing a piece of trash from the car, the driver will be held liable and will have to pay the fine. While eating in the floating restaurant, there was a duo of guitar player and singer that serenaded us. While we were cruising along Loboc River we came to another floating raft with a choir, it was a livelihood project of the community. They started singing by welcoming the tourist to Loboc, kids, teens and elders each had 1 performance, they sang and danced, and then the tourists would give donation for the “concert.”


A small separate island south of Tagbilaran is the Panglao Island. That is where we stayed. It is connected to Bohol by 2 bridges; it is very convenient to go from Panglao to Bohol. We stayed in the Alona Beach. The horizon of the beach can compete with that of Boracay, the sand was also white and the water pristine clean. Since Bohol is a coral reef area, some spots of the beach were rough because of the crushed corals, but the rest are just beautiful. It has shorter shore line compared to Boracay. As for nightlife, there is not much. It is not as festive as Boracay, but they also set up tables on the beach so you can have romantic dinner under the moonlit sky. The only thing that Alona beach doesn’t have is the Boracay sunset, although the full moon over the ocean was just as amazing.

They will soon be building the Bohol-Panglao International Airport; there are different views on this. Some hates the idea of bustling noisy airport, some do not see the need for it since Cebu is only 2-hour ferry ride away, some loves it for further tourism; for whatever reason it may be, I think Bohol is a treasure. It should be known as a model province all over the Philippines to inspire Filipinos to strive for excellence for this is how a tourist spot should work.

2009 is MY year!

I have long waited for MY year to come. It has been mediocre up until Mabuhay Guides. I have been looking for something that would change me big time. I always want change. As I quote my sister, “embrace randomness.”

Now that I have finally graduated I cannot help but feel giddy about the following days to come and the revolution that will sweep my life. I feel really blessed and lucky to have been chosen to be one of the 21 Mabuhay Guides pioneer. In 2008, I didn’t have a plan in my life and just sort of went with the flow. In January, I had already planned for my birthday in June! But this year, it’s already almost April, and I still don’t have a plan for it, because I don’t even know what I’m gonna do next week, more so on my birthday which is 2 months away! And I love it!

I enjoy not knowing what will happen (not that I knew before), it’s more like I know things are lined up for me, and yet I don’t know what they are, contrary to just not knowing what to do, right? Doors and windows of opportunity keep opening up and it feels amazing. I am so excited for the things that I want to do and the things that I CAN do. My older sisters always tell me I’m lucky that I’m still young, and I agree. I know that I act more mature than people of the same age, sometimes I feel like I’m 35 (in a good way), so when I realize I’m just turning 26 this coming June, I feel like I’m 9 years wiser.

I am slowly exploring the world. I was listening to the radio last night and the discussion was about inspiration, “what inspires you?” I contemplated on my answer to that question and I think the answer is “the future.” Whatever that lies in the future excites and inspires me. There are so many places I can go to and so many things I want to do; I haven’t even been around the Philippines yet! I’ve never even been outside Asia, and yet there are still China, India and the Middle East; Americas, Europe, and Africa! I want to do volunteer work help out our fellow Filipinos; try to be a teacher at least once in my life; and maybe find a little more about passions and true love.

I know that having an exceptional start of the year with a good out look like this doesn’t come often; but this won’t stop me from looking for adventures to take on every now and then.

Mabuhay Guides as New Ambassadors

The Mabuhay Guides were featured in GMA QTV news! :) Please watch :)


For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV

Running is unhealthy and expensive

Oh yes it is. Last Sunday, March 29, 2009 the Wandersoles and I went to the Mall of Asia for the Pinay in Action fun run (organized by Sen. Pia Cayetano for Women). We ran the 5km marathon. Lilliane and I met up with Zara there at around 5:30 and started stretching while waiting for the rest of the Wandersoles (Lilliane’s RTW travbuddies); at around 6:30am the event has started, 10K runnings went ahead, then the 5K runners and then the 1.6K adult-kid tandem run went off; we started running at 6:40am haha.

A round around Mall of Asia and I hear myself panting. Zara and I were running together, we ran then walked, then ran then walked. We set short-term goals like let’s run until that building, or run until that tall tree over there then walk again. We reached the 1st round and got us a blue straw necklace signifying we’ve finished a lap. We ran again, reached for water in the water station and grabbed a piece of ensaymada along the way lol.

As we were turning the last corner, it was so near and yet so far, I wanted to finish; I am at least 8 inches taller than Zara, my strides were wider than hers, she said for me to go on and finish ahead and so I did, I finished 5k with the time of 53 minutes minus the 10 minutes delay, 43 minutes.

So after the run, we all went into the booths and got free stuff. Free detergent, feminine pads, oatmeal, cholesterol check, pen, medicine for muscle pain, among others. We fought our way thru rowdy crowds and built up an appetite. We went to Mcdo for some mcbreakfast. Zara and I ordered each a longganiza meal (yum!) and shared a 2-pc pancake with sausage meal haha. And I ordered an extra hash brown. From what we’ve ordered, it seemed like we ran the 10K haha. This set me back P150, plus the registration fee for the marathon at P250. *Katching* P400.

So, after breakfast Lilliane, Beth and I decided we would wanna go malling. So of course by then it was 10:30am and the mall was open. The aircon was very inviting, so we went in. We felt a bit muscle pain from all that exercise, we decided to walk to Relaksasi to get a massage, the cheapest service we can get was at P600 for a full body massage, and so we did. *Katching* P1,000.

So after the massage, we thought we should go do a bit of a shopping, after all, it is summer and who doesn’t need new swimming suits right? So we shop around SM Dept Store, saw this really cute sailor tankini, red-white stripes with blue accent, *katching* P1,499.

So after that rigorous shopping, we got hungry, so we headed to Teriyaki Boy for lunch, we had Salmon Sashimi, California Maki, and Tempura Ramen, *katching* P2,199.

So, this morning I woke up with a sore body, my friend said it’s from lactic acid build up from doing strenuous workout for an extended period of time, I don’t know if it’s from the running, from the massage, or from walking so much in the mall. I think I got a bit of indigestion from what I ate. And spent a total of P2,199 just for one morning… As I said, running is unhealthy and expensive.

all photos courtesy of www.indayguapa.com

My First Trial Guiding

I cannot believe it’s almost the end of our training. This week we take our final exams, 1 written practical exam, a bus, a site, and a walking tour exam, and then another knowledge exam next week, then that’s it. That’s 5 weeks baby! 5 WEEKS!

We have spent the first 2 weeks in a classroom, wanting to get out, and spent the last 2 weeks outside, wanting to stay inside. Haha. I have been in Intramuros for 2 consecutive weeks, I know every crack on the street, every street children in the block, where to buy the best banana-Q and know the guards’ faces by heart. I know (almost) every piece of furniture inside Casa Manila, know where you can find toilet facilities in the whole of Intramuros, I’ve gotten to know Rizal a lot better, know each and every statue along Roxas Blvd, and learned more about the Catholic faith having spending so much time in San Agustin church. I say, I have never known more about my country and its history than I ever had in 25 years… and I am damn proud of it.

By being in this program, I feel that I have turned over a new leaf. It has opened my eyes and widened even more my interests. I realized so much more about myself, the discipline I apparently had, enhanced my public speaking skills, and to top it all off, made 22 new friends.

Last Sunday, my friends and I went back to Intramuros (because we haven’t had enough being there just 6 days in a week) we decided to go back and practice. They needed to get some information and I wanted to practice giving somebody a tour. Walking within San Agustin church, I saw a married couple, huddled on the bench and studying the pitiful Xeroxed leaflet from the San Agustin church, obviously trying to figure out where they are and what they’re seeing. I approached them and introduced myself, I said I am a trainee to be a tour guide, under the Dept. of Tourism, and we will be having an exam this coming week, and would appreciate very much if they can give me their time, so I can tour them around the church. Initially, I guess they were hesitant to say yes, and told me that they only have around 10 minutes; but I said the whole tour of the church would take around 30-45 minutes, but in anytime they would like to end the tour, they are more than welcome to.

Finally, Dana and Serni said yes, after selling my free services to them, honestly, it wasn’t that hard. Haha. So I started to give them a tour and they were so happy how I explained everything to them, they were enjoying every minute of it and so was I. I felt more confident, knew how it felt to do “actual” guiding. It is not at all stiff how I imagined it to be, it was just PURE FUN! It was so fulfilling seeing their faces lit up whenever I give them an interesting fact.

They were most impressed with the tromp l’oeil (trick the eye painting) ceiling of San Agustin. We got to see it up close when we went up the choral deck and the view was a magnificent.

After the tour, I asked if they wanted to see another place, called Casa Manila, and they said yes! And so we ended up spending around an hour and a half together (even though at first they said they only had 10 minutes haha)! It was so fun. Serni, who was apparently a Fil-Am, told me they have travelled all around the world and said my tour was world class! Of course I told them about our London blue badge trainer, and how this project was such a great opportunity for me and my colleagues and we all feel so lucky to have been selected to be part of it.

That day felt so good and gave me so much confidence. Even though I went home with a sprained ankle, I was skipping with happiness. I emailed Dana and Serni the next day, to reply to the questions I wasn’t able to answer J Now, we’re facebook friends. It is just so cool, life is just full of surprises!