HELLO EL NIDO!!!

Small Lagoon, El Nido

Seven Comando's Beach

Big Lagoon

Back-packer Me

These are just a few of my colorful adventures in Manila.

The Adventures of Finding Built Sonic

My friend/classmate just came in from the airport and then throw us up to join him in finding a store that he wanted to see for he loves stuffs at that particular store. The store that what my friend is referring to is "Built By Sonic". It was my first time to hear the name of that store because I grew at a city were local brands dominates the business industry. So we went from the airport to Eastwood City where the store is located. He wanted it so much to come and visit the store for we do not have that store at our hometown. From the airport, we traveled by taxi to the train station, then rode the train and after that, we moved to our destination by jeepney so that we can save money. All in all we traveled for almost more than an hour and a half. We have finally arrived at Eastwood, I decided to take photos for I love taking pictures. So, below are the photos that I took while finding that store.

This is the 1st photo that I took.

This is my friend, who wants to go to the store, still looking for that store for he doesn't know the exact directions.

Took this photo at a restaurant for we are starving at that time.

At last! We have found it after almost an hour of roaming around the area.
The store is located near the underground parking lot where little people could see.




-THE END-

Makati City During a Calm Sunday Morning

This is Ayala Avenue, Makati City during a calm Sunday morning. 
- No heavy traffic and crowded people -

Walking around at the not so busy sidewalks of Ayala Avenue at around 9 am.

"Buwis-buhay Shot" (Death-defying Shot) as what my friends captioned this photo
but it is safe at that time for there are very few cars passing at the lane
where I was standing and I do not recommend this for it's still may cause accidents. 

Land, Water and Air Travel in Cebu City 2014

Land, Water and Air Travel in Cebu City 2014

                  Hello! I'm a traveler from Bacolod City and these are my travel adventures in the Queen City of the South - Cebu City, Philippines via air, water and sea. 

                   My journey begins buy riding a bus bound to Cebu City at the Ceres North Bus Terminal in Bacolod City. Bought a ticket at 8pm for only 480PhP, since Cebu City trip via Tabuelan will depart at 10 pm and expected to arrive at 6 am, to prevent delays and at exactly 10 pm the bus left. I only brought a knapsack with extra clothes and a sling bag were my personal belongings are stored. The bus is equipped with flat screen TVs, WiFi, air-condition and comfortable seats. We arrived at Escalante City port terminal at exactly 2 am. I have to prepare 130PhP to pay for the barge's fare from Escalante port to Tabuelan. 

                  Slept comfortably at the barge's benches, a loud voice from a speaker woke  us up and it's the captain announcing our arrival at Tabuelan, Cebu. I checked my watch and the time says it's 4 am and pleased for the arrival time is followed accordingly to the schedule. 

                        After all passengers were cleared from the barge, we all ride again the same Ceres bus to Cebu City North Terminal. I was a little bit nervous for I do not have any experience in riding a public vehicle on my own in Cebu and I do not want to ride a cab or taxis for I want to save money for my trip. 

                    The bus stops around 6 am at a local bakeshop in Carmen, Cebu. I ate some rice puddings and bought Roscillos. After a 15 min bus stop, the bus took us over to our final destination. We arrive at Cebu City North Terminal and I quickly check the internet on my cellphone to research on my itinerary for my one day adventure in Cebu. I have noticed Jeep routes in Cebu City are number coded. Good thing I have already saved the corresponding routes on my cellphone that serves as my guide around the City. I was a little worried about my Cebuano speaking skills for I have an Ilonggo accent but I can clearly understand Cebuano but I can not speak it fluently. People in Cebu are very friendly and I had no problem traveling every street corner and ask directions to the locals. 

                      Since it's just 7 am on the clock and all of the malls are closed, I decided to check out the Magellan's Cross near the City Hall. Good thing that the weather is cloudy and not so humid so after I rode a Jeepney to Colon Street, I walked straight to Magellan's Park. It was a wrong timing for me for that the Magellan's Cross was under repair.

                           Even it is still on repair, I still took a photo of the Magellan's Cross and then suddenly my stomach rumbles. I think those rice pudding and roscillos that I ate was not  enough and to my relief their are plenty of restaurants are open. So I head to McDo to eat :)

               After I finished eating breakfast, I went to the City Hall and Plaza Independencia which is a walking distance to the City Hall. I found some tourist attractions within Plaza Independencia such as the Malacanan sa Sugbo and Fort San Pedro. Thanks to Google Maps for the accurate direction :)

                                                          Cebu City Hall

                                                                Malacanan sa Sugbo

Fort San Pedro

I spent an hour walking around the Plaza Independencia and head back City Hall. I passed a souvenir shop and bought some pasalubong "souvenirs" such as shirts, ballers, caps and lots of food famous in Cebu. I bought otap, roscillos, dried mangoes and some sweets.

I checked out the time and it's almost 10 am and it made me decide to go to Fuente Osmena Circle by riding a jeepney at Colon Street (still nervous of getting lost but thank God I made it there through a jeepney). I went to Robinsons Fuente just to check what's inside and see what can I buy and eat. (Yes, I love to eat) 

                

                          

It's lunch time and I was hungry again so I did not find an appetizing place to eat at Fuente Osmena (Maybe because I want to go to Ayala) so I decided to go to The Ayala Terraces which is known for its luxurious and classy ambiance. (yes I was impressed by the landscape and the water fountains in it) Cebu is truly "classy" with international chained-shops and restaurants located in it. 

I wander around the Ayala Terraces and trying to find a place to eat but my cravings tells me to eat Filipino food. So I ended up at Hukad which is a Filipino restaurant. 

So this is my view while eating lunch. 

After a satisfying lunch, I checked out every shops on the Ayala Center of Cebu and after I almost strolled out around the area I decided to go to SM City Cebu to buy stuffs or should I say souvenirs or pasalubong again since I forgot an important item for my relatives. I did not took any pictures maybe I was a little bit tired since I had just arrived in Cebu by land and sea trip. Finally, I have done my errands and not knowing I forgot to book a hotel. (the most important thing I forgot) So I browsed the internet looking for a place to stay near Mactan-Cebu International Airport since I have an early morning flight back to Bacolod via Cebu Pacific. (Thank God I am not travelling again by bus because honestly It's a little bit rough) I did not have a good sleep at the bus and I think I need to rest. So I found a budget friendly hotel at Mactan Island. During the beginning of my Cebu tour, I already had a deal with myself by not riding taxis to save money but I could not resist the fact that I am tired. I asked a local on how to get to Express Inn in Lapu-lapu City and gave me directions but I was confused. (Maybe because I am so very tired with all my bags and belongings that I carry) I gave up and broke that deal and hired a taxi to my destination. I was surprised that the hotel rates are a little bit cheap and offered a great service.I ended up sleeping the whole night at the hotel. 

         This is the hotel room at Express Inn Mactan (Sorry about the photo because my things are messy but the bed is nice)and it cost about 1,500Php per night

I woke up at 3:30 am and hurriedly packed-up my things and went to the hotel lobby. I'm impressed that they also immediately gave me a car service to the airport for my flight , which was about to depart at 5:30 am, and I pay only 200 PhP. I was happy I made it on time at the airport. While waiting for my flight, an announcer informed us that our flight will be delayed by an hour. I was very pissed for I was rushing to the airport for a delayed flight.

So I have waited for an hour and it was announced to be delayed again for 30 minutes due late arrival of our plane at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport. I felt angry and hunger strikes me once again. (yes I'm hungry again and I would like to thank the Express Inn staff for the take-out complimentary breakfast that they prepared for me) 

  

After 30 minutes of waiting, we are finally boarding. At the plane, thinking about the experiences in Cebu. I thank God for the safe travels. It was a learning experience and another well spent adventure despite of some difficulties. I felt proud that I conquered land, sea and air travel in  Cebu! I love Cebu! :)

#foodporn

#foodporn

I remember during the 90's, digital cameras does not exist or should I say it is not yet out in the public for commercial use. Also, cameras are little bit expensive at that time and it requires to buy a film consisting of only limited shots. The appearance of local restaurants before are very simple and the interiors are just not that quite good compare to today's modern restaurants. During that time, we tend to be frugal in taking photos by only capturing precious moments inside the restaurant. People that time do not take photos of their food or even capture the interior of a restaurant.      

Lucky for us, we are now enjoying  the modern technology of digital cameras. Today, even our phones can be a medium in taking photos for it has a built-in camera and we can take a lot of photos and then share it through the internet. I should say technology is very fast, for I have observed that almost every week tech-giants and other tech-companies produced new gadgets that are better than the old ones. The birth of photo-sharing applications also lead the way for us to share our photos.

 Nowadays, restaurants are not only competing for the best food but also competing for the best interior designs. People of today are now taking photos of their food and also the interior of the restaurant. Restaurant owners are very happy to those people taking photos about their restaurant's attractive design and luscious food for they will have a free advertisement  from the people who are posting it to their social networking sites. 

Me also took photos about a restaurant and post it on my social networking sites and tell my friends about it.  Particularly, I took photos of their food and captured some sneak-peak inside of the restaurant. Sometimes, I discover a restaurant through a friend's post in the internet with a hash-tag sign foodporn or #foodporn. I just love taking pictures of anything inside a restaurant for a reason that I always find interesting things to shot like the restaurant's artistic interior and scrumptious-looking food. 

These photos below are examples of what I do when I eat at a restaurant. I took this photo at The Old Spaghetti House in Cubao, Quezon City with a NIKON COOLPIX S4150 point and shoot camera. I did some post-processing of the photo by enhancing brightness and the contrast since my camera is not that good as the DSLR cameras.The ambiance is nice, I like the vintage concept of the interior and most of all the food is delicious. Now having done editing with these photos, I can now share it in the internet and post it with the #foodporn!

#foodporn