A short-lived Beach Experience

Summer is my perennial favorite season and I would hate to waste the long weekend that the Holy Week brings without going to the beach to relax and reflect. A week before Holy Week, I felt so hopeless and pathetic with no definite plans for out of town gimmicks. Our Bicol trip was cancelled since most of my friends have their own plans. Too bad for me… I was actually resigned to the fact that I will just stay at home and sulk… reflect I mean. Hehe.

Then one day, I chanced upon asking Raffy, Abi and Claude their plans for Holy Week and they happened to mention about wanting to go to the beach. Bingo! What’s more, we could join Kimchi and his friend to Puerto Galera. I was overjoyed. Since there will be no boats on Good Friday, we decided to leave early morning of Wednesday, May 23. We stayed over at Abi’s place on Tuesday night so it would be easy for Kimchi and his friend to pick us up at about 2AM. In the end, Kimchi’s friend backed out and so we were a total of 5 bubbly, fun-loving beach buddies.

At the Bonfire Grille having dinner the night before


All aboard and ready for Puerto Galera (L-R: Raffy,Me,Claude, Abi and Kimchi)


On the boat to PG early morning


We maximized our first day by having our tatoo sessions with Kimchi, experiencing the banana boat and massage by the beach, all for one, one for all. No one should be left behind. After dinner we rested for a while and waited for everyone to finish taking a bath before we all went out to savor White Beach's night life.


Picture first before dinner.

We woke up early the next day to hit the beach. I sun bathed and swam with Kimchi while the others roamed and ate their breakfast. We also visited Au, a JobStreet alumnus and had lunch at her house since she just lives in Balatero, near the pier. Below is out picture with her.




The Votles V's last shot at the beach


And as if we cannot get enough, upon arriving at Batangas pier,we headed to Leslie's in Tagaytay for our dinner. I truly enjoyed my short road trip gimmick with the Voltes V and definitely the memories will not be short-lived but will stay in my heart forever.

Tom Hanks Is America's Favorite Movie Star

That is according to Harris Poll. Below is an excerpt from the results:

"- Every year at this time The Harris Poll(R) asks a nationwide cross-section of adults who their favorite movie star is. This year Tom Hanks recaptures the top spot, moving up three places from #4 last year. Mel Gibson, who had taken over first place last year, drops slightly to #2 this year. Rounding out the top four most popular stars are Julia Roberts at #3 and Johnny Depp at #4." Read more:

http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=137176

I was so glad I came across this article in the sneak peak of OK! Magazine when I had my workout this morning. Tom Hanks is my favorite actor for the longest time and my friends find me weird. At least this time, I can prove that I've got taste. But anyhow, I don't care what others think. All I know is I simply love Tom Hanks.

I can't wait to see Da Vinci Code the movie. Yup he's in it.

Thailand Trip

I was in Thailand last week from February 24 to 27 and boy, it was tiring yet fun. It was our incentive trip for meeting our 2004 target. We stayed at Montien Hotel right across Patpong, the famous red light district of Thailand. Since it was my second time to go there, I made it a point to list all the things I was not able to do last 2003 and made sure to fulfill them all. My list included:

1. Experience an authentic Thai Massage because I did not have time to do it last time because our trip was packed with tours.
- Our Travel agent, Pia referred us to his friend's spa, Body Relax near Pratunam market. It was a salon type massage place with rooms divided by curtains and you could literally talk to your friend while having your massage. The massage lasted 2 hours for 400THB (original price was 300THB, 100THB referral fee). It seemed long but I still woke up craving for more.

2. Visit Ayutthaya City (old Siam or the former capital of Thailand). I saw this from a postcard in our hotel shop last 2003 and regretted not to have read this during my research. I am fond of historical places and make it a point to visit these in the new places I am planning to go to.
- We did this tour on our 2nd day. After our delicious breakfast at Jade Garden Montien Hotel, we were all ready and on our way for our Ayutthaya River Tour by 7:30 AM. First stop was the vast Royal Bang Pa-In Summer Palace where we went around the landscaped gardens and houses by foot. Exhausted, we took a break and bought water at a store and discovered that we could feed some fish and sea turtles by the lake with bread. It was awesome. Then we watched a cultural show before leaving for Ayutthaya.


We visited 3 temples/ruins: Wat Maha That,(the one I saw in the postcard)the heart and soul of the Ayuthaya people and was almost completely destroyed by the Burmese during Thai-Burmese war; Wat Na Phra Mane which remains in perfect conditions used as the Burmese headquarters and; Wat Lokayasutharam which enshrines the Largest Reclining Buddha Image

After our tour in Ayutthaya, we cruised Chao Praya River back to Bangkok.

3. Eat authentic Thai food.
During my last trip we mostly ate at fastfoods like McDo and KFC. This time I consciously chose to eat at the local restaurants and tried their street food. We had our first dinner at The Pizza Company since it was highly recommended by Shiena's friend who worked in Thailand. The pizza and pasta were delicious. I will miss the Spinach lasagna. Yummy...

We had our last night dinner at Anna's Cafe (another recommended place) at Wireless Road.We had fish, chicken curry, sticky rice, spring rolls and green salad . I specially like the curry and spring rolls, simply tasted authentic. We planned on going to other places like Cowboy Soy and Cabbages and Condoms but we could not anymore fit it in our packed itinerary.

I would like to immerse further in the Thai culture and way of living by trying their street food. We were so hungry during our first day that we had a pit stop at the vendors outside the temple with the tallest standing Buddha. We ate spicy chicken balls and also tasted their noodle soup which was way too spicy for me. If in the Philippines, vendors sell mangoes with bagoong, the Thai's have sliced guava to be dipped in sugar and chilli. It was so addicting, especially if you eat it with the native tea drink called "epa". It quenched my thirst from the scorching heat in Ayutthaya.

4. Watch the famous Patpong shows

Well, at last I had the chance to watch those kinds of shows during my first night. Given our accessibility to the bars in Patpong, we decided make that as our first gimmick. While we were traversing the bars, Ringgay was invited by a Thai local to view the show in one of the bars free of charge or 100THB if we decided to stay. And so we went up to a dimly lit bar and at the center was a stage where girls in 2-piece suits were dancing and doing exhibitions with their pussy. When our drinks came, we were being charged 300THB, contrary our agreement with the local boy. We could not complain anymore because he was already gone. We just decided to stay and watch the show which consisted of girls pulling ropes with pins/blades from their pussy, inserting an egg inside their ... , using muscle control to blow a whistle, smoke a cigarette, open a bottle of water and and throwing banana to the audience.

Was it a site to see? I can say it was one "hell" of an experience but I really pitied the girls, most of them at a young age being exploited that way.

5. Shop and go to Chatuchak again.

During my first Bangkok trip, my objective was to spend my money on tours but this time I wanted a balance of both tours and shopping, oh well more of shopping, I guess. I added Tokyu to my list of places to shop because this is where you can get cheap but genuine Naturalizer shoes and Wacoal underwear.

We also set aside whole 3rd day for shopping. The shopaholics' first stop was chatuchak were I bought Tricia's cute little shirt and bed. Kimchi and I also roamed around Pratunam market, Siam Discovery Center, Siam Center where we bought 80% discounted shirts and tops, and MBK to meet with Maya, Shiena and Ringgay. We also did some last minute shopping in Suan Lum,
the new night market that offers a variety creative gifts,clothes and trendy bits for the home. Actually, I liked this better than Chatuchak since it was not hot, less claustrophobic and the prices were more or less the same.

I felt so tired from walking the whole day. However, when I was packing my things, I realized that I did not really buy a lot so I was mostly window shopping. hehe...

So I guess I already did all the Must Dos in Thailand. Read more: www.bangkok.com/bangkok-miniguides/must-do.html> Next time I am going to visit their beaches and other provinces.