#88 Balai Indang, a hideaway

Our overnight stay at Balai Indang or Balay Indang was thanks to the wedding of Kuya Dean and Ate Joy. Their wedding was in the morning of a Saturday up in Tagaytay (Caleruega, Nasugbu to be exact), so they had booked their whole entourage at the Balai Indang on Friday so that no one would be late! ;) (great idea ya?)
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We (Liz and I) went via Tagaytay from Batangas where we left at around 5:30 in the afternoon. Unfortunately for us, May is the season for fiestas in Batangas, and with fiestas come bumper-to-bumper-traffic-causing processions. :)

About half an hour from when we first got stuck, I was already ranting about how they should make laws preventing processions from completely taking away half of the road and effectively freezing traffic! Calling governor V? :p

Driving to Balai Indang

This procession, along the main highway through Bauan, Batangas, held us prisoners for a little more than an hour. The 1.5 hour trip to Tagaytay was extended to almost 3 hours! Good thing Balai Indang was not difficult to find, save for the initial it's-dark-and-are-we-going-in-the-right-direction/is-this-a-horror-movie feeling.

The trick was just to keep an eye out for a large #88 painted on a wall on the left side of the street (coming from Tagaytay!). It's big enough for the near sighted to see. ;)

When we arrived, we were quite hungry. Good thing there was a program for "getting-to-know-each-other-in-the-entourage" before dinner, so there was still a lot of food when we arrived. At dinner, we got to sit with Dean's high school teacher, and she kept us entertained with Dean's childhood stories while we ate dinner...

Great Food and Graham Crackers

The food, (which I cannot describe in detail anymore because I don't remember!) was good, Liz particularly enjoyed the fish something (hehe) and I particularly enjoyed the dessert (of course!) which was (and this one I remember!) Graham crackers that they made into little graham balls (little Graham Bells?) and rolled in coconut bits. Awesome! :D


After dinner, Dean (haha, yes the groom himself) escorted us to our rooms. The set-up was very homey, the lamps and the curtains were very Filipino. There were about 3 rooms per house, and each room was big enough for at least 6 adults: 2 queen sized beds on the first floor and 2 single beds up on the loft.

I especially liked the bathrooms: the shower area was a piece of flat stone surrounded by pebbles, the sink area was a mix of modern and traditional elements, the wooden counters and the ceramics mix well. There were some problems with the door to the toilet area, which was a sliding door and was a bit difficult to close. (heh heh)

Because we arrived late and needed to be up early, we did not really have much time to walk around and enjoy the rest of Balai Indang. I was told there was a swimming pool and a fishing area, and I found a mini-trail with a sign saying "Barefoot walk". There was also a bar with a billiard table. The brochure actually was promoting the place as a family getaway, or a venue for corporate team building activities.

The next day, we were up bright and early, and we got a good look at the lush greens and lovely flowers at Balai Indang. Breakfast was lovely and light while we watched the members of the entourage getting their hair and make-up done (some of them were up at 4AM!) We enjoyed the ambiance of the house, the details in the decorations were exquisite. Liz liked the sink in the ladies room, the ceramic vase with intricate painting detail, and even took a camera in the toilet. ;)

Filipiniana Wedding

Finally we were off to Caleruega for Kuya Dean and Ate Joy's wedding, where I was set to sing at the ceremony. Thank you to the couple for our relaxing, albeit brief stay at Balai Indang!


Click on the photos to view full size. Photos by Liz and Rey using Canon Digital Ixus 90IS.

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June 5 is World Environment Day, How did we fare?

Today, June 5 is World Environment Day (WED), according to the UNEP Homepage, it is the day when the United Nations stimulate people and governments to push for action on environmental issues. The theme for WED 2009 is 'Your Planet Needs You-UNite to Combat Climate Change'.

Climate Change has been in the forefront of environment related discussions for the past few decades, and numerous promotions have been made to try to address the issue. There is a particularly wonderful page on the UNEP Homepage about how to: "Easily Green your daily Routine" (and it rhymes too!) which details small adjustments to your lifestyle that will help in big ways. Things like "wear jeans more than once" or "usa a washable mug for your morning coffee" are very easily doable.

My question though is have we gone far enough to effect a slowdown of this inevitable future of climate change? How have we in our yearly Environmental Day celebrations been able to effect change and curb climate change? Or has June 5 become just another celebration we do, but not really affecting anything?

As an improvement, I think it would be good to know how we have as individuals uniting together have been able to make a difference. Or if we haven't, how we should do more. From my work I have learned that we can't improve on something we don't measure. So, so far, how have we fared? How far have we come? And what do we need to do more?

Although wonderfully clever to break down environmental friendly contributions to a doable daily task list, it's still difficult to imagine how my putting my printer on default "print on both sides" mode will effect the cutting down of trees in the thousands per day. So, my challenge to UN is... to help me imagine it better. :D If I see how I have been able to help, then maybe I will be inspired to help some more, and maybe other people will be inspired as well.

This is our world, we, the human race, are the biggest stakeholders in this worldwide project. And even if you do not care if I or any other person in the world will survive, even if your intentions are purely selfish, I don't care. As long as you do your bit to help.

Oh, and please plant a tree. :D

Puerto Galera 2009: last summer outing

This post is the second of 2 posts about my 2009 summer at Puerto Galera, White Beach in Mindoro. Read the first post here.

The end of summer

2009 Summer is over for the Philippines when it's supposed to be just beginning. (It's only May!!!) Our trip to Puerto Galera (although in retrospect was quite headstrong) would probably be our last summer outing to the beach, or rather, anywhere which requires you to ride a boat to reach the beach.

For now, I'll be happy that we got to go to at least one beach this year. :D I love the beach. When I'm filthy rich, which is soon, hehe, I'll buy the whole Boracay Island. Haha!

Anyway, on with the story...

Relaxing Day

On our second day in Puerto Galera (Sunday), our friends Paolo, Princess & Jenny left early in the morning for Manila because some of them needed to work the next day.

Liz, Bing and I agreed to spend the whole day relaxing. As opposed to the first day, we did not make any plans on the second day, we just swam around, slept and walked around the beach. The sun was still strong, and even though the sky was still a bit hazy, you wouldn't think that just a couple of days ago there was a storm here.

There was a host of things to do in Puerto Galera: aside from the normal snorkeling and island hopping, diving and swimming, you can also para-sail, kayak, ride a banana boat, hike up the mountains, visit the waterfalls, get a tattoo or a henna tattoo, get piercings, or get a massage on the beach. At night, they have a lot of bars and pubs along the beach coast, most of them play dance music, some with live bands.

In the afternoon, while the ladies were taking a nap, I went by myself and walked the length of White Beach. I took my camera and snapped away at the sand, the water, and the people. There was not a lot of people left that day so I got a good relaxing walk.

More shopping and more swimming after that, and a massage on the beach at sundown was the perfect way to end the day.

Sunset at Puerto Galera is one to watch out for. It begins like a candle light and then spreads quickly like wildfire across the sky. To me, watching the sun set is a rarity. Often, I come out of the office when it's already dark.

A good thing to note to non-Filipino readers is that sunset in the Philippines is very quick. It begins at around 6PM varying depending on the month, and it can be over in as short as 10 minutes.

Dancing the night away

More grilled food for dinner (yummy), and more drinks too! We tried the new Carlsberg drink, and danced around our table until we got sleepy. I find dancing is a great way to loosen up and relax and forget about the troubles at work. Too bad there's not enough good, clean, dancing places around (or maybe I just don't know about them haha!)

In the bar where we stayed, there was this gay waiter/waitress who did stunts (lol), he/she jumps and then lands on a split, or climbs this pole and hangs upside down. He/She looks like a bat! woot! Check it out ----

Hahaha!

Back to Reality

On Monday, we slept in, packed our bags slowly, and made our way to the beach to catch the 12noon boat to Manila. Tudoy (my really kind and good looking friend! hehe!) agreed to pick us up from the Batangas Pier. The trip back took longer than we expected, but we arrived safely nonetheless.

I leave you then with a couple more photos of Puerto Galera. You can click on any of the photos to see them in their original size.

And, if you're going to the beach, take me with you! :D

Back to Reyjr Travel Blog Log

Charice enters the Billboard Hot 100 at #44

Filipina singer Charice's first single, "Note to God" which she debuted on the Oprah show on May 18, enters the Billboard Hot 100 chart today at #44. The #1 spot is still held by the Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow" who also has a Filipino member, rapper Apl de Ap.

Here's Charice's Oprah performance video in case you haven't seen it:




Charice will also be appearing in 20th Century Fox’s "Alvin and The Chipmunks 2," slated for December 2009...

Charice's singing is of the "birit" diva style reminiscent of other divas like Whitney Houston, Celine Dion and the younger Mariah Carey. She has a huge voice despite her small frame and can reach up to the heavens with her vocal calisthenics.

She became famous on YouTube where her video (and her story) was picked up by Ellen Degeneres and Oprah Winfrey. Charice's career was put into high gear when multi Grammy winning songwriter David Foster took her under his wing.

CONGRATULATIONS Charice! We are proud of you! :D Go Pinoy!

I won the lottery!!! ...i mean, IF

Over lunch today, the topic was the Lottery, or here in the Philippines, "Lotto." Or more specifically, what will you do if you win the lottery?

Most of the people in that table said they were going to resign, with much drama, packing their stuff in a box and lashing out at difficult bosses and officemates, slapping people with bundles of money to pay for loans (hehe), buying everything they want in the world...

So, I took a quick look at the Philippine Charity Sweepstake Office Website (because I was curious how much we are really talking about here) and found that the grand prize for today's draw for SuperLotto is a staggering Php 182,000,000.00 (or about $3.7 Million).

Holy ef! I never knew it was that much! Haha. (Seriously, this is the first time I checked...) Let's put things in perspective here... that much money can buy you either:

• 10 of the 2009 Ferrari 599 cars (and still have enough gas money for a lifetime), or

• One of these islands, or

• Around 9,000 Google shares at $400 per share :D

Which brings me back to my first question:

"WHAT WILL YOU DO IF YOU WIN THE LOTTERY?"

Seriously, here's what I will do (aside from get married and have twins!)

1. Try my best to keep it a secret from everyone other than my immediate family and loved ones (no, I won't blog about it, haha) because I want to be alive to enjoy all that money!
2. Buy a corner lot on a busy street and put up a Kentucky Fried Chicken or Jollibee franchise
3. Buy a beachfront property in Boracay and put up a resort/hotel (because I want to have a place to stay when I go there!)
4. Take a month's leave (or two) from work and travel around Europe to visit friends (yep, I won't quit my job until my businesses are stable!)
5. Take my Masters Degree in Business Administration
6. Set up businesses (instead of give money) for all my family (so that they all have sustainable incomes!)
7. Buy a condo unit in Alabang
8. Get a bodyguard. (just in case!)
9. Set-up a charity that helps children by keeping them off the streets and teaching them music.
10. Build a new spa or wellness center. :D

These are just some of the thing I will do. Haha. How about you? What will you do? Reply in the comments section below or blog about this and link to this post!

12 dead in capsized boat en route to Puerto Galera

On my last post, I spoke about the weather being not so good before we left for Puerto Galera earlier this month. Then just last week, this happened. The boat we took was not overloaded, far from it, but still... it could've been us. I remember our boatman saying that our boat cannot sink because it's made of wood. True enough, but then again, the boat below did not sink either. In fact, it's still floating now.

Let's pray for the souls of the departed.

M/B Commando 6, a 12-ton, 21-meter outrigger boat capsized on May 23, Saturday off the coast of Batangas while on its way to Puerto Galera Beach. Coast guard officials estimate the boat's capacity at 42 passengers and 5 crew, however various reports of the actual number of passengers say the boat was overloaded by over 20 passengers.

The accounts of survivors explain that the weather was okay, but the waves were quite big, and so the tarpauline covers were pulled down to prevent the passengers from getting wet from the waves. When the right outrigger broke it caused the boat to tip over. Most of those who perished were trapped inside the upturned boat because of the tarpaulines.

As of this time, 12 people have been confirmed dead including 3 children (two 2-year olds and one 3-year old) and a Japanese national.

Survivors also talk of 2 vessels that passed by but did not stop to help, and had instead taken photos and videos of the tragedy.


Photo from Inquirer
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