Wednesday, July 29, 2009

my quicksand place

time flies so quickly. before you know it. 10 days pass by just like a snap.

As a kid i was terrified by the thought of stepping on kuminoy (quicksand). once you're in it, you can't escape. i felt the same way recently. but ironically falling into the abyss has captured my heart. it was this intense emotions that raptures my very soul. intimate and kind. i fall into darkness and i found something bizarre. that i have loved every single moment of that experience. i have come to feel sweet gentle breeze. just for a second to be in that place is magical. so exquisite.

its time to go. 25 minutes before i go. i will miss my family but will always come back for the holidays. i look forward to life that beacons before me. struggling will be extremely hard but we can journey life together. muster every difficulties we encounter. at the end of it all we shall find what we are searching for.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

happy days

seems like its all coming back to me. i'm gaining what i have lost before. and this time i am hoping to get more. hoping and praying that life gets better. i can feel that something big is within my reach.

hoping that life keeps on geting better...

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

bb'ies gone...

i don't have both my blackberry b8707 and burberry wallet. But for different reasons. I sold my blackberry to raise 5k fund for my expenses whilst i'm still in manila. part of it was on my burberry wallet - 2k to be exact. and it was stolen. or what i thought happened.

i just finished watching 4 films at CCP and at around 11pm i went to malate to grab some dinner. when i was about to pay my bill i couldn't find my wallet!! shesh...

let's recall. i gave the cab driver 50 pesos from my wallet. i'm not drunk to say that i clumsily dropped it. i know that i either placed it on my back pocket or hid it in my bag. i would definitely know if i dropped it on the road. my theories are...
a. someone might pick-pocketed my pants;
b. someone might opened my bag while i was walking; or
c. i dropped it unconsciously.

i lost my precious wallet. my bank cards. credit/debit cards. photo id. frequent flyer. prc that i have recently obtained. money estimating 2k. receipts from cinemalaya. my blessed petals. lots of id pictures. - all of them are priceless!

action taken/will be taken:
- secured-mailed my cards to block all of them and reissue another card
- will talk to cab operating companies (i dont even know which company but i know that its the same design as R&E or F&E)
- obtain affidavit of loss to reissue PRC id (have to think if this is necessary)
- email qantas to get replacement for frequent flyer
- go to RTA to get replacement photo card
- cancel all my agenda that involves monetary outlay

i just feel so bad. i haven't even got any address or contact details on my wallet. not even a calling card! if ever - there's a good samaritan who would return it back. long shot but still i will try to contact cab operators.

lessons learned
- be vigilant. be very vigilant.
- sense of awareness of personal belongings
- always put a calling card in wallets
- not to buy expensive wallet unless i have a car
- look back and double check cabs before getting off

oh well. shit happen when you least expect it.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Lazy Monday

Its Monday. Raining. Hence - couch potato for the whole day. Ironic how I feel that I have all the time in the world but still I couldn't accomplish everything! There's so much to do. Blame it on Monday!

My only productive moment was movie watching. Lately I've been watching lots of movies. I've seen Harry Potter 6 twice. I've seen Ice Age 3 and Transformers 2. Just last Sunday I've seen 4 movies shown in CCP Theatre. And tomorrow another 4 movies to watch. Go go go Cinemalaya! *Who will bag Ronli Awards - Stay tuned*

Got all of my days booked to meet friends. Eat my cravings. And take the Fear Factor challenge once and for all.

But still, I haven't booked my flight yet. What's up with ANZ's one day clearing?!?! I blame it to them if I couldn't get a flight back on the my planned date of departure. I already sacrificed two big things: a) Birthday of Pee Jay; and b) Christmas in July party at Russel Lea. I can't miss not seeing my friend before he goes back to Germany. We still have some nasty plans to conquer the cinemas and just pay for a single ticket. Just to check if our theory is correct.

Though I've been hooked on my Mac for the whole day, I still managed to finish mom's MPS project. I just hope that it would be finished before I go. I told the parties involved that I'm leaving at this exact date no matter if the project pushes through or not.

Being at home the whole day is just plain boring. I just couldn't stand the fact that I'm not working and feels unproductive. Maybe because I came from an audit environment. I'm having a work withdrawal syndrome! I feel like I'm going to lose my sanity if I stay at home for another month.

Just can't wait to see how my life back there would be. Fresh start and new struggles!

And I just anticipate.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

10 days in the Philippines

I was obsessed in creating itineraries to fit in the limited time I usually spend in a place. Perhaps this is the best thing to do. I only have ten more days in the Philippines starting tomorrow. I still have heaps of items in my wishlist. Things I wanted to do, places to eat or some essentials that I need which could be cheaper here.

My prayers were partly answered in regards to my finances. I mean how will I cover for my expenses when I get back to Sydney. The only problem I have now is getting a ticket. I'm not totally liquid but at least I have assets to exhaust to survive. I'm ready to go back and look for work. Boredom has incessantly crept its way to me. Or on second thought, I just want to be useful to the society. Stop bumming and go look for work!

Going back to my topic. Here are some of things I have to do before 26 July.
* Airline Ticket
Obviously this should be my top priority. My mom agreed to finance it until I can liquidate my Super. Its not a wise move to encash it here. Freaking 30-days clearing? No way! But I already have chosen my flight schedule. Leaving Manila at 260709 0820 via B777. Arriving in Sydney the next day 0555H via A380!

* Attend SGV Reunion
Not sure if I'm going though. I would want to go but my batch mates aren't coming. I just need one close friend to come along.

* Sell my BlackBerry
I need to do this, really! This is the only asset I am willing to windup. Otherwise I will have to force myself to stay inside the house for 10 days waiting for my flight back.

*Buy 1 Winter Apparel
I left all of my winter clothes in Sydney. How can I survive the blistering cold. Perhaps a pullover and a scarf would do. I brought my trusted Zara Jacket anyway.

* One last crazy drunken night
Calling my friends.. Can you help me out with this? :P

* N95 repair
I need to find the cheapest way to repair my good ol' mobile phone. What needs to get fixed is the mouth piece. Apparently no one can hear me when I make the call.

* Harry Potter 6
I have to watch this before I go. Cinema tickets are cheaper here anyway. I hope I could watch in either Gateway or IMAX. Don't know if the latter would show HP6 ??

* Another massage please
I need to have another one cos I know its cheap here. Prolly on the last few days before flying. But first I have to research where is the best and cheapest one too.

* Organise. Pack. Make Lists.
I need to be OC to achieve this. One thing I hate about traveling is the art of packing. I tend to forget a lot of things if I wouldn't make a list. So it requires a lot of effort and bit of inspiration to finalise this stuff.

* Food cravings and trippings
I have to eat in the following before I leave:
- Tapa King - Tapa Queen!
- Inasal.
- Red Ribbon - Palabok, Black Forrest and Empanada!
- Sinangag Express.
- Paotsin.

I have to eat mom's Pancit. Goldilocks' Polvoron, Red Ribbon's Pastillas, Chowking's Halo-halo.
Good luck in gaining the pounds I shed off.

* Fear Factor's Challenge
Eat Isaw!

* Print my SEA pics
My mom wanted me to maintain my travel album. Hence I have to printout my picture from the recent travels I had. I will then go about thousands of photo and painfully decide who deserves to be on my budgeted best 100 pictures.

* Clean my room
The last painful thing I can think of at the moment. Going through all my shoe boxes and checking if I need to: a) throw it away, b) bring it to Oz or c) retain it. But I have to do the simple Batibot task of putting the same things together.

If it doesn't rain, I will have accomplished a lot by tomorrow. But if not, I'm stranded at home and might go with the food cravings/tripping agenda.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

And we go home...

less than 3 minutes and my internet rans out. lets see how quickly i can blog away. woke up at 5am. i havent packed! oh i did a semi packing last night. imagine staying in a backpacker hostel. so everyone was sleeping. i couldnt open the lights cos they are all snoring away. funny thing is that i was half guessing what im holding and what bag it needs to go. just to check that i dont leave anything behind (cos i left two flip flops in Vietnam and Indonesia), I opened the lights just for a second and this bloody English gal said "Fuck!"... Oh well!

managed to be early and im here killing time for 4 hours.

The Great Singapore Sale

Tom's the end of my SEA trip. Been really really tired. Always sleeping late and waking up early. Damn, do I have to really book early flights?? Well, it paid off cos I was able to maximise my time in the day and extend some time for drinks and party at night.

My last SEA trip was a one-day stopover at Singapore. Timing couldn't get any better. It's the Great Singapore Sale. Much as I want to limit my budget - I plunged in and bought some stuff. It just doesn't feel right walking in Orchard Rd without swaying paperbags. Been to 10 shopping malls at least. Got some pics. And ended my day with a nice massage. Now its time to sleep. Tomorrow's an early day to the Budget Terminal.

I'll talk about my whole SEA trip tomorrow after my beauty rest =)

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Explore. Relax. Reflect.

Today's itinerary is to explore Central Bali. Bali has been known for it's nice beaches and rice paddies. Hence for the latter we will journey to the heart of Ubud to see temples and learn about the balinese culture. We hopefully can find a cheap massage and relax. Budget is 240k rupees. The area has a good concentration of natural resources that is good for reflection.

My brother is amazing as he can now drive on the other side of the road. We should have done this since day one. Taxi's too expensive to explore Bali. Renting is cheaper. So is the petrol!

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Bali disappointment

First glimpse of the beach and I told myself that the reason it's not overwhelming is that Sanur is for oldies and Kuta caters for the younger crowd. That night we went to Kuta to see for ourselves what the nightlife is all about. We reach the shore after an endless walk. Cabbie meter was quick as a broken faucet. Hence we decided to walk when it reached our budget.

The beach is not white and fine. Rubbish everywhere. Shore was too dark. Nightlife is dead and it's Friday night for crying out loud! I just felt so disappointed with their claim that it's world class.

Asked our cabbie driver about the most pristine beach and they recommended South Bali. We're going there now and I hope it can change the way I perceive Bali.

And oh... I lost my beloved lonely planet book somewhere in the beach.

Friday, July 3, 2009

From Jogja and beyond

Booking a flight in a local Indonesian carrier is just a pickle. The websites are dodgy and you can't seem to pay online. I decided to immediately head out to the ticketing office located in the domestic terminal only to know that they are closed. Fucking website says that their office hours are from 5am to 10pm. Decided then to wake up early to purchase my ticket. 5:30 and they're still closed. Far out! My flight is at 6:10 and obviously I can't make it.

Managed to get their late return flight. And I booked my departure flight on another airline. Though it costed me close to 2 million rupees, all is worth going to Jogja. Prambanan and Borobudur is fucking awesome!

The hectic flight day

My 1st July is so hectic! Started with bargaining with the bloody fucking driver. Bargained 250k initially but since I have to change my money, he charged me 100k more just for waiting for 5 mins. This got me so furious and the monster in me was unleashed. I sabotage the cab by writing FUCK backwards on the seat. Normally I'm not like this but these people are just so bad and mean.

I almost didn't catch my flight to Saigon. Blame it to the traffic and crazy terminal. It was chaotic and even worse than Manila's. I manage with my armed charm to persuade the crew to accept my check-in luggage.

While in Singapore I was too amazed with the Singapore sale and the free gadget chargers that I almost got left behind. I saw the flight board saying that my plane's gate is closing. I literally run and was sweating profusely after that. But I made it.

The magnificence of Halong Bay

This was couple of days ago but the beautiful and captivating limestone formation is just so blog-worthy. The trip was for four hours and it cost me forty bucks. All is worth. Meals are amazing. Coaches are comfortable minus the weak air-conditioning. The first time we boarded the so-called junk, I can't get enough. I started taking endless photos. Met fine people from Germany, France and UK. They're friendly and we exchanged travel stories while enjoying the view with few beers. Kayaking in the afternoon. My English partner doesn't know how to and we became a laughing stock of Vietnamese kids. Woke up early to see the sunrise and it was just too amazing. It's a view that definitely worth paying for. But all good thing co we to an end. Stayed for two days and a night. Went back to Hanoi and ate in a fine do ing Japanese restaurant called Sakura Saigon. And had a nice sleep with Simpsons on the background.