I’m giving away a ticket to Philippine Fashion Week Holiday 2012! Pls scroll down or go to my post here.

Do any of you guys have Pinterest? Oh I can hear you guys grumbling “Not another social network, AGAIN.” Actually it does seem like Tumblr but in a more organized manner. Pinterest is somewhat like a corkboard and shelf all rolled into one. For example, you were looking for a particular style to redecorate your home but there are so many. So what you do is you “pin” it on a particularly board in Pinterest and then you’ll be able to review them all at a later time. What I love about is it’s graphical user interface and it’s just so easy on the eyes. It’s bookmarking WITH STYLE. I’ve already made 12 boards and I’ve also indicated my dream camera there too, just so I won’t forget it or anything. I will get a DSLR someday and after hours of research, I do know what camera and lens to get. I just need… you know, moolah. So if you’re on Pinterest already, ADD MEE! Or if you want an invite (you can easily log in using twitter or facebook), I can easily give ya one. Just comment away

One of my favorite boards there is of course, that dream house “Welcome to My Abode” board. Ever since I was young and had to move away from my grandparents, I knew I wanted my own room just like what other “normal” people had. Why am I still sleeping in the same room with my parents EVEN up to now? Why can’t I tear down these walls and decorate to my own liking? Well of course money money money is the problem and the fact that we’re just renting our house. So if ever the owners decided to boot us out, I’ll be homeless. So I don’t really have a permanent home, this is why I love the phrase, “Home is where the heart is” because I can make ANY PLACE my home. And thus the dreamer in me continues to dream. I’ve grown out of my pre-teen and teenage phase so unfortunately I can’t decorate my room like one anymore (well WHO SAYS SO… I still can! haha) but I have a vision of what my dream house would be like. It’s got to be big, and spacious! Check out my dream house board.

Seems though I LOVE to incorporate nature and books in my future home.

Maybe live inside a mountain or a hill

Or float around in my lazy river inside the house

Or yeah again in a cave

But then something revolutionary happened last week that threatened me to jump off my dream precipice. I watched a documentary on Youtube called “We The Tiny House People” and it featured the tumbleweed houses and various other people who were able to build extraordinary homes in such a limited space. It wasn’t actually my first time to see this particular house

which looked like a cabin compartment on wheels more than anything else. Somehow it wasn’t able to change my perception of my dream house but after watching this documentary and to find out how living less doesn’t always mean living more, but it doesn’t mean that LESS CANNOT BE MORE. Why can’t it? A lot would disagree with that statement at how having less things mean more things. But I believe that we can make it more. You got to work to achieve and if you check out my favorites in the documentary, such as this amazing 400-square feet boat home by Heather Wilcoxon who ditched the Hollywood glamour to live on a boat.(no I am not a hippie or bohemian-ish really… i would change the interior design but the concept is amazing)

My favorite apartment though has got to be Christian Schallert’s apartment in Barcelona. They call it the “lego-style apartment” because of how everything is connected and hidden. It’s perfectly functional too.

This space-saving idea is so practical and wonderful but might be turned off by those with kids. Of course you can’t raise kids in these kinds of quarters but it doesn’t have to be such a big difference right? People who have built tiny homes state that one of the reasons why they love building these is because of “being lazy” and “no dusting required” statement. Actually that’s a perk but I think the reason goes beyond that. Less cleaning is always helpful but let’s not forget that it’s great for sanitation purposes, it helps with countries’ density problem. Building these kinds of tiny houses is more economical and cheaper they say because of lower rent rates and of course less land needed and I do agree.

I look at the problems here in the big city of Metro Manila and look at the squatters and shanties around and I can’t help feel a nudge somewhere… that this might be a solution to their problem. I don’t know how it’s going to be implemented or not but applying these kinds of concepts could help with the environmental waste problem and also the squatter situation. I want to pitch this idea to somebody but I feel like I lack the needed knowledge (i am not an interior designer or an architect) but this is an important idea that must be shared. What do you think?

Please take the time to watch this documentary, it might be long (1 hour and a half) but it’s really worth it. You don’t have to watch it all now but it would be great if you take the time to watch this too. This has affected me so much that wherever I turn to in my home, I’d see “WASTED SPACE!!!” and say “TOO MUCH SPACE FOR 3 PEOPLE!!” and I want to take out everything. But it’s not yet my home… wait till I get my own. Nature will definitely be a part of my future home though.

If you just want to watch the trailer, you could do so here It’s only 10 minutes I think?

Check out the Tumbleweed blog or Faircompanies for videos and photos of more tiny houses. They also give you tips on how to “save space” from your homes.

Jay Shafer is also the founder and owner and architect and… well he built the first “tiny house” like this. Check out his tour. Thought that I should mention him here because he’s kind of the “pioneer” in the States.

Updates when I update!

You Realize there’s a cockroach-like bug in your car. On the seat beside you…

Or when a humongous spider lands on the wall IN FRONT OF YOU inside YOUR ROOM…

Or when a flying cockroach suddenly whizzes past by you and a FLYING CAT follows and flies by you to…

WHAT DO YOU DO?

Well do what I do and choose among these options a) Run like a sissy girl or boy b) Whack and miss it c) Whack and kill it d) Scream and panic

So I kinda did d for the first one, b and c for the 2nd one (I had to wait for the next night to find it still inside the room, I woke up with a bite mark…) and a for the third one. Well I didn’t exactly run like a sissy girl, maybe run with dignity but I was more surprised with Kitty flying past me chasing the flying cockroach rather than anything else. And I thought it was my chance to escape too! And for the bug inside the car, it disappeared once I got out of the car :/

So that’s how I open my post after a month. LOL! haha and I was hoping that it was going to be a dramatic post about graduation or job hunting, but no guys, I think bugs following me everywhere must be top news!

Haha hello again guys! But seriously I was planning a post-graduation story. I had it all figured out, I was going to make a playlist of my graduation songs and explain that but then immediately after graduation, I went to Hong Kong (after 6 years my friends!) with my blockmates and then went to the beach, Boracay (international friends, you seriously have to COME TO THE PHILIPPINES AND GO TO OUR BEACHES! PLEASE!!! especially THIS ONE!!) with my groupie and then I was all over for job applications that… I almost forgot I had a blog. Holy crap I wish I could be more concentrated on this. I’ll still go ahead and give you a recap of everything though as soon as I can! But also trying to keep my posts less than a thousand words, really I have to learn how to write less :/

It’s been amazing, the 4 year adventures in Ateneo. I felt like I died, was reborn and changed in so many ways. It’s a bit dramatic if you would say, actually maybe some who meet me would have told me I didn’t change at all. But there’s this new perspective you gain when compared to your high school self or 14 year old self. There’s definitely a change in the pattern and way of life. Problem is just living my dreams now. Finding them for that matter.

My Hong Kong and Boracay adventures will have to be written sometime this week! This is basically just an update telling you guys I’m still alive, being chased around by bugs. Also, I’m on a reading streak! On to my 12th book now! Wish me luck on reaching 50 again!

Some picture teasers:

Making the Rents Proud (ooohh medal!)

Hanging out at Ocean Park, Hong Kong

Fooling around Boracay, Philippines

*title taken from Google’s post regarding SOPA*

****UPDATE! AS OF JANUARY 20, 2012, SOPA’s mastermind Lamar Smith POSTPONED and will review the bill once again along with the committee and various Internet entities. This is GOOD NEWS but I am sure isn’t the last act of this World War Web

It’s been so long since I made a REAL blog post and not just a filler video to keep my blog running. Priorities priorities I say! I even ran out of pre-made blog posts that I wrote before. This is how delayed I am -_-

Several serious issues have blotted the start of my 2012. In short, my too optimistic self who says that 2012 will be a better year is in for an extremely CHALLENGING YEAR. My successes will be greater but so will my failures. I’m willing to make that hundreds of TRIALS just to get that right formula or fix the light bulb and this, standing up to a great issue is one of the challenges that not only I but THE WHOLE 21ST CENTURY GENERATION will have to face.

Almost everyone on the online world must already know about the business regarding SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP) as last January 18, 2012, the world wide web witnessed the largest temporary shutdown of thousands of sites in protest to these US Bills that the US government wants to pass. Some known sites such as Wikipedia, Reddit, and even simple blogs like ours joined hand in hand in this silent war against this atrocious bill. By January 19, 2012, US President Obama joined us netizens by going AGAINST SOPA and PIPA.

But what happened to this stand from Obama when just a FEW HOURS LATER, The US government and FBI sued and arrested 4 out of the 7 shareholders including the owner of file sharing sites of Megaupload and Megavideo. They took their domain and this what you see when you visit their page

I haven’t really explained SOPA or PIPA yet to you guys and maybe you think I’m just riding the bandwagon here because it’s “in” to be against them. NO! I think that everyone should be against this because of the “ripples” it creates for EVERYBODY. Do you realize that when SOPA is passed (or not, wtf did FBI just do? and HOW COME OBAMA DOESN’T KNOW ABOUT THIS yet he claims to protest SOPA), not only is Megavideo and Megaupload targeted, but EVERY IMAGINABLE SITE (which includes ALL FILE SHARING SITES, YOUTUBE, 9GAG, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, TUMBLR, WORDPRESS HECK EVEN MY BLOG, WIKIPEDIA, AND 99% OF ALL SITES) that can host copyright materials is a potential threat and will be shutdown. The Internet as we know it will cease to exist. Think of this analogy, SOPA treats it as a cancer so if they see that for example your hand has a cancer, they not only will chop your hand off, but KILL THE WHOLE SELF AS WELL. So even though Youtube has this agreement or policy that it is not responsible for the ANYTHING that is uploaded in their site, the bill will still target Youtube once a user uploads a whole movie or used a song in his music video. Because I can’t really explain the bill well and only give you scenarios, it’s best for me to leave the explanation to the experts.

Watch UK Law Graduate and Professional Gaming Commentator “Total Biscuit” explain SOPA

For those who prefer American accents, watch David Sohn’s explanation

And of course, the ever reliable Wikipedia (don’t use this as sources in high school or university dear students! but for blogs you can

The bill would authorize the U.S. Department of Justice to seek court orders against websites outside U.S. jurisdiction accused of infringing on copyrights, or of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. After delivering a court order, the U.S. Attorney General could require US-directed Internet service providers, ad networks, and payment processors to suspend conducting business with sites found to infringe on federal criminal intellectual-property laws. The Attorney General could also bar search engines from displaying links to the sites.
The originally proposed bill would allow the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. Depending on who makes the request, the court order could include barring online advertising networks and payment facilitators from conducting business with websites found to infringe on federal criminal intellectual-property laws, barring search engines from linking to such sites, and requiring Internet service providers to block access to such sites.
The bill also establishes a two-step process for intellectual property-rights holders to seek relief if they have been harmed by a site dedicated to infringement. The rights holder must first notify, in writing, related payment facilitators and ad networks of the identity of the website, who, in turn, must then forward that notification and suspend services to that identified website, unless that site provides a counter notification explaining how it is not in violation. The rights holder can then sue for limited injunctive relief against the site operator, if such a counter notification is provided, or if the payment or advertising services fail to suspend service in the absence of a counter notification.
The second section covers penalties for streaming video and for selling counterfeit drugs, military materials or consumer goods. The bill would expand penalties to include unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content and other intellectual property offenses. The bill would criminalize unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison for ten such infringements within six months.
The bill provides immunity from liability to the ad and payment networks that comply with this Act or that take voluntary action to cut ties to such sites. Any copyright holder who knowingly misrepresents that a website is dedicated to infringement would be liable for damages.

And after everything, we can ask, “IS PIRACY THE ONLY THING THEY REALLY CARE HERE?”

NO.

They want MORE PROFIT. MORE BUCKS. MORE DOLLARS. So they eliminate competition from Indie film makers, programmers, artists and writers. They don’t want to share and instead EAT THE WHOLE PIE. So please I hope that you can include a STOP CENSORSHIP ribbon on top of your website to protest against SOPA and PIPA (well the bill has been postponed but doesn’t mean we can’t stop expressing our views and beliefs and be ready for the next battle as the American government doesn’t seem like to be waiting for the bill to pass to take action. Rapidshare could be targeted next).

Everyone must informed about this case. Everyone should be alarmed that this bill AFFECTS EVERYONE.

Questions:
1. Thoughts on this? Agree or Disagree?

and Satisfaction Brought It Back.

So which do you believe? The first phrase or the whole sentence? I kinda believe both and context is always important!

So when Discovery Channel started its Curiosity series, I was intrigued. Heck and they keep on showing the commerial for its episode on female orgasm and what it’s for narrated by maggie gylenhall. But what really interested me was their segment for….WAIT FOR IT….

WHAT IF U COULD LIVE FOREVER?

Yeah what would you do? Would u avail these medical treatments if it were possible? Andrew Sage (guy from myth busters) tries to explore this world and yep, freakily (is there such a word?) the technology we have today seems to be telling us that it is possible in the near 50 or so years. THEORY OF SINGULARITY GUYS! (try googling what it is. XD) I really liked the segment except for a few farfetched parts (a flying brain… Seriously? but…) anyway i’ll stop yapping and you can check it out now. Thank you Youtube for full videos and movies!

FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY ▼

So it’s the New Year tomorrow. Besides asking a lot of questions, I do want 2012 to be a fresh start. So many thins will change and i am optimistic at saying that 2012 be an awesome year for me. I swear that today will be the last day of procrastination. I have to fix my life and find le reason! LE REASON! I even thought of a new tradition of writing down this year’s failures and achievements and burning it afterwards. Or maybe i should only burn the failures… Maybe oh dear i only have a few hours to decide xD.

So before I say goodbye and welcome the new year, a little plugging for my offline friends’ new spaces in the cyberworld!

1. Randz’ Randzomeness! I swear he has a knack for blogging and of course mixing and matching clothes! He even did a stint at Topman! So go scurry ahead please

2. Mariel’s Indeemand dot com! She’s a very curious girl who likes to snap pics at everything and anything! Also if she’s bored, she does these.

3. Nicole’s Fashion Blog! She’s an investigative journalist and writes well and is addicted to lashes, pink and SHOES! Man you should see this girl! Please head over to her blog!

4. JV’s Sociologist Chemist Chinese Blog! hahaha I hosted JV before but he’s on his own now with a new perspective in life especially shifting to BS Sociology. Go for what you want guys! But he’s still a Chemist at heart methinks!

5. Chair’s dreams and realities! One of my best friends and she has a lot of stuff to talk about especially gaming! She just recently returned to blogging (like me!) so please show her some lve. She also featured Inotia 3, A SUPER ADDICTIVE ANDROID AND IPHONE RPG GAME! I slept at 3 and 4am for this. And in 3 days am now a level 47 archmage. So yeah, TODAY IS MY LAST DAY OF PROCRASTINATION!

6. GEORGIE’S FREE WORDPRESS THEMES! Hahah I haven’t really met Georgina personally but I loved her themes so much and have been a follower of her blog for YEARS now, I think that it’s just right to promote it. PLEASE DO CHECK HER FREE THEMES OUT

7. Oh this is just shameless plugging but do visit my Europe photoblog and instagram blog! Currently updating them. Can’t believe I left it alone for months now. Again 2012 WILL BE A NEW YEAR.

LOTS OF LOVE!

Thank you so much for the new visitors of my blog! Hallo and hope you guys don’t get bored here Sorry if I annoy some people but heck, you’re still here hahaha

I WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY FANTASTIC AND YES NOT THE LAST HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012 (UNLESS YOU BELIEVE ANOTHER THEORY LIKE ALIENS– CHECKTHISVIDEOSERIES :alien: :alien: ) TO YOU!!!
(stop 9gagging! XD)

Lol I forgot to put the…
Questions:
1. So would you want to live forever if you could?
2. Please visit one of my friend’s blogs and tell me what you think
3. 2012 will be… I will…

Sorry if this post came out so late! I actually have a new issue in the works but I’ll go ahead and post this first. It’s most likely that you’re here because you’ve been waiting for the second installment of my experience with the most stressful travel agency I’ve encountered (please read this first if you haven’t). Well surprisingly… they were able to book everything except again, I have some complaints.

Photo credits to Mich and Chair! THANKSS!!

Us!

Airphil’s Airbus

Puerto Prinsesa Airport. It’s a really small terminal

It wasn’t written in the deal but the airline that they got us was Airphil Express and it was my first time to ride with them. I was really nervous because the only domestic flights I trusted were Philippine Airlines (even if they’re always late, they are established) and Cebu Pacific so I was really apprehensive. And to think I watched this feature on National Geographic about this air-crash investigation before boarding haha! Good thing though nothing bad happened except for a few delays of a few minutes. I was asleep for most of the 1 hour and 10 minute-ride there so didn’t experience any strong turbulence unlike the one I experienced with Cebu Pacific going to Shanghai. Man THAT WAS THE WORST FLIGHT EXPERIENCE -__-. This flight didn’t me migraines at all and I commend them for that. So don’t be afraid of Airphil express Their terminal by the way is located at NAIA terminal 3. If your flight is at 7:30am, don’t be deceived that there will be a “short” line. There’ll actually be a long line when you arrive at around 5:30am but this is manageable as the long line is actually for Cebu Pacific flights. GOOD LUCK TO THEM! By 6:15am we were actually waiting at the gate and had enough time to kill. Oh and for those who booked with Ensemble, you only need the photocopy of the credit card of Joey Regis or whoever PAID Airphil thing. You don’t need their valid IDs but don’t forget to bring your valid ID too and the travel docket!

This photo of Kookaburra Travel Lodge is courtesy of TripAdvisor

This photo of Kookaburra Travel Lodge is courtesy of TripAdvisor

This photo of Kookaburra Travel Lodge is courtesy of TripAdvisor

We stayed in Kookaburra Lodge finally after demanding Ensemble that this hotel was the one written on the deal so I really wanted to transfer here. It was a good decision even if the location was 10 minutes away from the main city because the people there were really so friendly and SERVICE-ORIENTED (unlike some people *COUGH COUGH*). I was texting one of the staff before we arrived because I was worried that we wouldn’t be able to attend the Underground River Tour that we booked with them (instead of Ensemble, GOOD THINKING. it’s 1,500 pesos though but I think you can get a cheaper deal if you book early) because our flight was scheduled to arrive in Puerto Prinsesa at 8:40am and the tour was at 9am. Of course I feared for the worse like our flight getting delayed and true enough it was delayed for 10 minutes. Surprise surprise when we arrived, Kookaburra arranged to have a separate van to transfer our things to the hotel and the Underground Tour van was already there waiting for us. Good thing we were able to dress properly and we immediately got on! Our tour guide Tita Nids was so nice and was very motherly to us. We were with other tourists from another hotel and Kookaburra. Oh a tip, book your tours in advance with the hotel because they need to secure permits for the Underground River tour.

I kinda forgot how many hours exactly it took from Puerto Prinsesa City to Sabang where the Underground River was (it was 8 kilometers long under a mountain! we were able to travel only 1.2km though as the rest of the river can only be traveled when you’re a researcher). I think it was around 2-3 hours of a joyous ride because of the remnants of the “Abortion Road” (when the road to Sabang wasn’t developed and when pregnant women can’t travel there XD). Because there were foreign tourists, conversation was very lively and interesting as we got to know that they were traveling around the world and Tita Nids was also sharing her stories and explaining the different cities in Palawan. My friends and I bought sun hats too which were perfect for the occasion as it was really so hot and sunny that day! We then had lunch at this coastal restaurants where Badjaos (people native there) were selling their handmade accessories. They were really cheap too but DON’T FORGET to bargain! haha! And be careful because usually a swarm of sellers will surround you O_O You have to be assertive when you don’t want to buy at all. I was able to buy some though WARNING TO FOREIGNERS, please make sure that they are selling you the right price.

Food that comes with the package

Boat ride to the Underground River

Entrance to Underground River.

Tips: PLEASE WEAR JACKET OR PUT PLASTIC AROUND YER BAGS Droplets of water and maybe some guano (aka batpoo) will fall on top of you. Helmets are provided so don’t worry about your crown. Also spray INSECT-REPELLENT coz there are little insects buzzing around. If you’re lucky, you might get a glimpse of a swimming monitor lizard, LOVED IT! We were able to see one at the entrance of the cave. Also if you want to hold the spotlight (it’s POSITIVELY DARK INSIDE THE UNDERGROUND RIVER), sit up front but again, you will attract lotsa little critters. The bats I found out are SUPER CUTE! They’re not vicious at all but tiny little darlings Also get RENE as your boat guide. One of the corniest/funniest man I’ve ever heard/met. Seriously he’s really funny.

Overall, the Underground River was a lovely 40 minute experience. Those afraid of the dark though, this experience would be quite scary…

Us by the beach

TIME TO PARTEY HAVE DINNER! One of the best Filipino restaurants I’ve been to!

So here’s evidence of our pigging out. OH and we ate WOODWORMS. WORMS.

Fish Chips

Rice

Gising Gising (my fave! veggies, shrimp, etc!)

Buttered Prawns OMG YUM

Beef steak (Filipino style!)

Crispy Pata (Pig’s thigh feet) OMG SO HEAVENLY BUT OH SO CHOLESTEROL-Y

THE CARNAGE! Our moms taught us well to not leave anything behind

Oh yeah, did I mention THE WORMS??

Day 2 begins! Now I was really worried about our tour that came with Ensemble, the Honday Bay Island Hopping tour. I was reassured a bit when Joey Regis, their ACCLAIMED CEO (I was wondering though, WHY THE HELL IS THE CEO THE ONE UPDATING OUR TOURS? WTF?), suddenly called me and reminded me of our tour at 9am. It said though in their travel docket that we were supposed to be picked up at 730am. I wondered what the hell happened but I told him okay. I also asked for the contact number of our guide and got it anyway. I asked Kookaburra’s staff about our tour and they honestly can’t give me any answers coz Ensemble really is the only one who knows about it. SO PLEASE, WHOEVER GOT ENSEMBLE’S DEALS, PLEASE DOUBLE CHECK WITH THEM ALL THE TIME COZ YOUR HOTEL WON’T KNOW EITHER. And I actually asked Tita Nids about Ensemble and they have been hearing horrible things too especially this story about Ensemble ruining a couple’s honeymoon because they booked them at wrong times and they could only go on the City tour which they had to book themselves. Really frustrated couple. SHEESH. Ensemble MUST LEARN.

So we got up and had breakfast at 8am and surprisingly, the guide arrived before 9am and we were able to go with a couple of people who also booked with Ensemble (again we shared our own experiences with them, ALL NEGATIVE). It was cool that we met Mich’s long lost relative there and also met a very nice couple. They got Cebu Pacific’s flight though. It turns out that Ensemble ONLY provided a tour handler, NOT EXACTLY a tour guide so he wasn’t like Tita Nids who talked about Palawan. So I absolutely didn’t learn anything about the islands. We didn’t have a snorkeling instructor or guide too (I saw that other groups had someone go snorkeling with them) which was a pity coz they could have taught us the proper way to snorkel. I knew how to swim but I didn’t exactly know how to dive. I did see the pretty fishes and got to feed them! Oh by the way, we rented out beach shoes and snorkeling gear and had some free fish food There’s a stop on the way to the port. We were able to hop to Snake Island (my fave coz of the LOADS of fishes) and Pandan Island (LOTS OF ALGEA! Some starfishes and fishes but not as many, you could ride on banana boats, jetski and other activities though) only because our guide said that they were doing some renovations or what on Starfish Island. SO THEY SAY. So Ensemble again FAILS in this department because our tour wasn’t really equipped with a guide. WTF really. To those who have arranged Honday Bay Island hopping with other travel agencies, did you have a “real” guide? So I’ll let the pics do the talking

On da boat!!

DELICIOUS LUNCH THOUGH!! Our tour handler was a great cook! Now that’s a good thing

Snake Island!

Next stop was DINNER AGAIN! haha boy we loved our dinners! Oh by the way, Kookaburra can arrange tricycle rides to the main city BUT it’s really MORE EXPENSIVE! 20 pesos per person though the tricycle was indeed better than Manila’s trikes, i still think 20php is STEEP. So when going back from your location, you can either get another trike offering a cheaper price or contact Kookaburra again to pick you up So we had ours in Kalui’s! They were fullybooked by that time and it’s a good thing we reserved a place. I LOVED the ambiance of the place and we had to go barefoot inside the restaurant. The sounds and lighting were perfect. Except I actually loved the food at Kinabuch’s better though. Kalui’s seemed lacking something… hahah!

Front of Kalui’s. Yeah Lui owns this restaurant

No slippers or shoes please

We kinda pigged out again except we had more fishes and vegetables Kinda too lazy to put everything. I’ll only put if someone requests the 7 dishes we 4 girls ate

Dropped by Puerto Prinsesa’s Bay walk area!

BEAR CAT! SO FLUFFY!

Baker’s Hill!

DELICIOUS HALO HALO!

Basically I LOVED my Palawan trip except for some minor flaws (Ensemble -__-). Our island hopping day could have been better. I sure wish we stayed here for more than 3 days. It just isn’t enough. And now I’m wishing I could go back. But definitely not booking with Ensemble anymore (unless they hire me and I’ll fix their booking system, HA! XD)

So toodles all!

UPDATE!

Woah! I never knew that this post was reaching the top of google search, well almost in some terms. I realized then that I must update this post of mine as I haven’t researched on anything new on Ensemble lately and I may give out the wrong information to people.

A commenter has gladly told me that finally, after all our complaints, ABS-CBN featured it and after a search on DZMM website, they featured this feature (it’s in Filipino) and said that the office of Ensemble IS NO LONGER IN CEBU (say what??), JOEY REGIS THE HEAD WILL ANSWER TO ALL DEMANDS (say what??) and HE ADMITTED TO NOT ANSWERING THE CALLS (SAY AGAIN WHAT THE F—???!!!). The article says that Sydney Gonzales (who is she??) revoked the permit of Ensemble to stop operation LAST SEPTEMBER 2011 (SAY WHAT EFF CRPAHFIDBGIKEBHGFKIHFDKHFD OUR FREAKING DEAL WAS MADE AFTER SEPTEMBER, WHAT THE FU–?!!!).

I need more updates. These revelations just infuriate me more. I just hope that THESE ISSUES WERE/WILL BE RESOLVED. It’s just insane. Now the expletives and cursings are against these revelations. Actually I have no idea now if Ensemble is operating at all or not. If anybody knows, PLEASE UPDATE ME.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH. Please Ensemble, if you every changed your names to another travel agency and are still operating somewhere, PLEASE PLEASE IMPROVE YOUR MANAGEMENT AND SERVICES. And also don’t leave unsettled stones unturned. Wait I think I said that incorrectly…

********SECOND UPDATE**********

A kind commenter has given tips for those who want to get their money back or who want to complain the hell out of Ensemble or other travel agencies.

1. Document everything and report to DTI. The email address is dtincrlegal@yahoo.com and attach all needed evidences.
2. Go directly to their office. It’s just at the Enterprise Building 27Flr Tower 2 : Regus Office (leased). Don’t waste time in calling them, either no one is answering or their phone lines are f**ked up. Ask for the supervisor (Ruby) and show all needed evidences. Demand for a refund.
3. Follow up daily. They say refund takes 4-6 weeks but mine is now at the 4th week and validation is still ongoing (so much for customer service). Metrodeal has admitted that they themselves are having problems contacting Ensemble but this is not a reason to allow them to just wait for Ensemble to reply back.
Metrodeal has confirmed that payment is not endorsed to the merchant unless the voucher has been used already. I’ve been to their office several times asking for follow up and believe me every visit comes with an escalated tone. Our money is still with Metrodeal, and they just need to get validation from Ensemble that we did not really used the voucher in order to process the refund. That process unfortunately takes millions of years thus make sure to do the visits and the legal reports to DTI.
I also think it helps if people go in groups in their office. I think that would really turn their office upside down and hopefully they would expedite our demand for refunds.

His suggestions are valid and I believe that going directly to Metrodeal INSTEAD of calling them up (which I tried) and going by groups is also great. There are people in forums out there who share the same pain as you do.

So here’s my original post.

*NOTE THIS IS NOT TO DEGRADE any of the coupon site or the travel agency. This is just a recap and opinion and FEELINGS of MY EXPERIENCE which I think can help a lot of people who had/have undergone (or ARE undergoing) this experience with the said sites. I was able to book my flights, accommodations, tours and everything in the end and I will fly on October17-19. I will make a separate blog post for POST-vacation to see if everything really has gone smoothly. I am not telling you to bash or boycott these people, just BE WARY AND TAKE LOTS OF CAUTION*

In case you wanna skip the whole post, here are the RELIABLE CONTACT NUMBERS

*With updated Metrodeal new hotline number*
ENSEMBLE E-TRAVEL AGENCY
DARYL (for PALAWAN DEALS)
E-mail: ppsdeal2@gmail.com
Celphone: +63 9174886388
Landline: 5469083
OTHER Person people have been able to contact
Joey Regis +639174246558
+639174886386

BANTAYAN DEALS
E-mail: bantayandeal2@gmail.com

METRODEAL
Landline: 8858848
MetroDeal Inc.
27F (Regus) Tower 2 The Enterprise Centre
6766 Ayala Avenue cor. Paseo De Roxas
Makati City

I feel so STRESSED AND HURT the past weeks.

Okay sorry how very callous of me to start my post with these kinds of words. But I haven’t endured this kind of stress and axiety with any other TRAVEL AGENCIES in my whole years of…. almost adulthood. My parents have been the ones arranging flights for me but I am sure that they have never encountered such horrendous service in their entire life. And we thought travel agencies were service-oriented. We didn’t demand leopard skins or a red carpet treatment, we just wanted BASIC customer service. Listen to the customer, reply to the customer ASAP, respect the customer and be a cheery dude.

Okay so let’s go into detail about this.

Am sure that everyone must be acquainted with coupon sites already which I think is an ingenious thing. The stores, establishments and agencies put up this limited offer and people would react impulsively to this because they would all think, “if i don’t buy this now, I may never get the chance!”. These services are also PRE-PAID so they immediately earn money without even doing anything. Smart eh? I mean look at this travel deal we bought, it’s worth almost 10 thousand pesos and around 3 thousand bought the coupons. Do the math and they’ve instantly hit GOLD! Such was the case of our deal in Metrodeal and Ensemble E-travel.

Metrodeal is an established coupon site here in the Philippine as one of the first few coupon sites. My friend recommended it to me because of its great deals on food and services. When the offer for 2 people to go to Puerto Prinsesa for 3 days 2 nights including airfare, accommodations, tours and breakfasta for only 10 thousad pesos, my friends and I jumped at the chance and boight the great deal. It’s my dream to go to Palawan coz I believed that it was better than Boracay because there was less people. I researched the hotel, Kookaburra Lodge and it rained with GREAT reciews so I told my friends, all systems go! Let’s do this thing!

This happened last July 2011. Here’s a screenshot of the offer.

Note the terms and conditions, it said that they would immediately call you after the deal has ended. Note again that it did say subject to availability on SOME DATES but does not mention that you can actually go to only if you pay an additional fee so we all assumed that all flights WHEN AVAILABLE ONLY (meaning if it isn’t available on October20, then there aren’t flights at all) would have the same price. NOTHING SAID DEPENDS ON PROMO PRICE. It’s vague and discreet. Why didn’t we notice this? So guys always READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS VERY CAREFULLY. If you feel like there’s something wrong, don’t push through with it and find another deal.

Note also that I actually didn’t check on the travel agency. BIG MISTAKE. I assumed that all travel agencies would function well since booking a flight actually takes less time now especially local flights since you don’t even need passport details. Again DON’T ASSUME. ALWAYS MAKE SURE OF EVERY DETAIL. It was a mistake to assume that Metrodeal and Ensemble actually had GOOD COMMUNICATION. I was only alarmed after 2 weeks when my friend kept on wondering why hasn’t Ensemble contact us yet. So I did my part and emailed them our voucher details.

Tik tok tik tok… a day has passed… two… three… four… (hey did they really get my email?)… five… six… seven…

HOW DOES A TRAVEL AGENCY TAKE 7 DAYS TO RESPOND?

I got scared thinking maybe Metrodeal or Ensemble scammed us. I looked again at Metrodeal making sure it was a legit site (well of course it was, they had HUNDREDS of deals!) and then I searched for Ensemble’s site. Their site didn’t look professional and actually shady and they had TONS of numbers which I tried to call to NO AVAIL. No one was answering and one number was even WRONG. I then googled and did my own research about the company and I saw SCAMS, COMPLAINTS, ANGRY WORDS written all over the forums. I called up Kookaburra Lodge just to ask if Ensemble really did make reservations with them before and if they were legit, I finally got their cel number from them and the landline number from a blog I found. I tried that but again NOBODY WAS RESPONDING. I emailed Metrodeal and they replied back an email that only told Ensemble to please handle our matters immediately. Knowing that I couldn’t actually just depend on an email that might be left unanswered once again. I kept on calling and trying Ensemble directly. I NEEDED to speak to someone. I tried for 50 FRIGGING MINUTES CALLING THEIR DARN PHONES and gave up so I just sent them TWENTY texts inquiring our situation. By the good grace of the Lord, THEY FINALLY REPLIED (via text) and then I replied FOUR TIMES AGAIN just so that I can get a reply. What are they thinking? Are they not getting our texts? The good thing was I got a reply from the e-mail afterwards. After feeling harassed, stressed and frazzled. I knew that we had to call them immediately because flights were probably running out and we had to really book in advance.

His excuse was that they lacked manpower and the phone lines kept crashing because of the number of calls. They were going to add more people and more lines. Well THIS ISN’T MY PROBLEM. They should have expected this to happen when they put up that good deal/voucher on Metrodeal. They should have anticipated and added more lines to their communication. They should have REVIEWED OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT (and to think i’m not a business major but I do know that CONTINGENCY PLANS MUST BE MET) and fixed this problem BEFORE SERVING TO THE CUSTOMER. I know that no company is perfect, heck nobody is. But to not look like they prepared at all? YOU BE THE JUDGE.

Um…. where did all the other information go in their original voucher? This is the email one they sent us.

What contained in their e-mail frustrated me even more because the dates that I asked weeks before WAS NOT APPLICABLE but we could go if we add a thousand pesos to it. Promo wasn’t applicable on those days but we can still go. Now wait a minute, nothing was said about promo fares or anything. My friend whose brother was a lawyer was even encouraging us to file a lawsuit against them because of misinformation and lack of legitimacy (im not sure if Ensemble is listed in the Department of Tourism) because of their service (I read also from blogs that some actually have tried to file, I am not sure what happened to these). I emailed Ensemble about this concern and they mentioned that it was MISCOMMUNICATION WITH METRODEAL, Metrodeal didn’t put that fine print there in the promo. But AGAIN this shouldn’t have been our problem, this should have been theirs.

My benefit of the doubt and my desire to see Palawan at all costs made me lose heart in arguing over this so we just made a compromise and settled for October 17-19. I have to give it to the one that I was talking to though because he was able to settle our flight in one night (which made me wonder, WHY COULDN’T THEY HAVE DONE THIS FRIGGING SOONER?). He told us that he will e-mail us our itinerary, flight details, accommodation details (travel docket in short) by September. One month after. I felt more at ease now because I was able to talk to a real person this time and he seemed efficient anyway. This is DARYL (not sure if Darryl) from Ensemble and he sounded nice.

So there… one week passed… two… three… four… FIVE… SIX…

It was already October 2 and since our flight’s on October 17, I started panicking a little and decided to call them again. Same problem. My friend told me that she saw new deals that they were servicing (THEY EVEN TOOK MORE JOBS, CAN THEY HANDLE IT?) and saw that they added more cel phone numbers. So they did fulfill their promise of adding more lines. GOOD JOB. But were they answering? UH… NO. Even Daryl wasn’t replying to my calls or texts. I was also using two other cell phones and trying out ALL the available cell phone numbers they had. FINALLY I got in using their landline. I asked to speak to Daryl because he knew our problems unfortunately he wasn’t there. I can’t remember what the guy said but he transferred me to a guy named Kurt/Kirt. Now this is where I blew my fuse because when I inquired about my problem, KURT/KIRT seemed like he had absolutely NO IDEA what I was talking about. He just kept on telling me that he will email me this week (it was a Wednesday when I called I think) and if I don’t hear from them this week, I should call next week (next week meaning, uh just 7 days away from our flight, OH GREAT) again. He didn’t sound ACCOMMODATING OR FRIENDLY AT ALL. I can see him shrugging his shoulders in the phone, not even caring for the customer, didn’t even sound like he was making an effort to view our package or emailing us, it’s as if his shift was done and I was just a liability. I was HURT AND EXTREMELY FRUSTRATED AT THIS but I kept calm. I waited again but of course to no reply and I tried Daryl once more the next day and THANKFULLY HE PICKED UP. Now he was appalled and confused as to why our travel docket wasn’t made yet so he told me that he would finish it tonight (AGAIN, it is not my problem that the people in the agency didn’t seem to know about my deal with my the agency. How was I supposed that only one guy knew about my problem????). He was able to make it even though it was around 9pm already (bless his soul for staying up late), but when I saw the travel document that the agency sent,

“As we are the only e-Travel Company in the Philippines available 24 HOURS and who derives 100% of its business from the travel market industry, you are important to us. ”

I almost spat my drink out and almost wanted to cry uncontrollably. 24 hours, me being important to them. I can’t help but laugh at the irony of it all.

There were some curious things though, they changed our accommodations when a big part of why I wanted the deal in the first place was a good hotel and also they had lots of typos and mistakes in their travel docket. I emailed Daryl about this and he obliged and found a way to comply with my requests. He was really nice and everything. The only problem I had was with the optional Underground river tour which I wanted to cancel (we didn’t pay the fees yet so I thought we could cancel it ahead of time) but he texted that there would be cancellation fees. I was… WE HAVEN’T PAID YET, HOW COULD THERE BE CANCELLATION FEES? Well i again gave the benefit of the doubt and maybe he thought I was talking about canceling the whole trip which wasn’t what I meant. Good thing in the end it was all sorted out 5 days before our departure.

So my friends, would you have been stressed if you were in my place? Maybe. I know I certainly was stressed from all the confusion, the extremely HARD-TO-CONTACT agency but we were able to pull through. If Ensemble had more people like Daryl and can be contacted easily, I wouldn’t have no problem at all. If they had more Kurt/Kirts, then I’d really be fuming! I just want to tell the people who availed of vouchers by Ensemble that

THEY ARE NOT A SCAM AGENCY. THEY REPLY. JUST FRIGGING TRY AND TRY AGAIN. DON’T LOSE HOPE! CONTACT THEM UNTIL THEY REPLY!

It’s just so frustrating that Metrodeal also doesn’t answer on their landlines. And frustrating that Ensemble’s offices are in Cebu. I suggest going to the office directly would be the most efficient way but it’s in Cebu… aww man…

Here are the contact numbers that I was able to reach through. I’m not sure with the others. I also got this number from another blog site. If you have any problems with contacting them, I would contact Daryl and tell him about it.

*With updated Metrodeal new hotline number*
ENSEMBLE E-TRAVEL AGENCY
DARYL (for PALAWAN DEALS)
E-mail: ppsdeal2@gmail.com
Celphone: +63 9174886388
Landline: 5469083
OTHER Person people have been able to contact
Joey Regis +639174246558
+639174886386

BANTAYAN DEALS
E-mail: bantayandeal2@gmail.com

METRODEAL
Landline: 8858848
MetroDeal Inc.
27F (Regus) Tower 2 The Enterprise Centre
6766 Ayala Avenue cor. Paseo De Roxas
Makati City

If you have any other difficulties, please contact me or them. PLEASE BE CAUTIOUS. A GOOD DEAL DOESN’T MEAN IT’S AN EFFICIENT DEAL. AND ALSO GOOD LUCK!!!! Pls spread!

Life is like boxing, you never know when you’re about to be bloody hit by your opponent. Whether you’d be the one giving it or receiving it.

That was a whacked out simile but after what happened yesterday, I now officially know that Someone up there is always looking out for me. I only had an hour to sleep yesterday because I was doing our project and finals at the same time and expert crammer that I am, I thought that I could do it. But because of some bugs, the project didn’t want to run at all. The Graphic User Interface didn’t want to load at all and 30 minutes before the defense, I was still staring at some bunch of code. I couldn’t even test it out if it worked. But lo and behold when my partner and I opened it at our computer lab, it worked.

IT. FREAKING. WORKED.

Sure there were some bugs now that we finally found out (and fixed on the spot XD) but that was beside the point. We didn’t have to stare at some molecules of O2 or CO2, we actually had something to present to our professor. It was certainly one of the most nerve-wracking episodes in my university life. Have you ever experienced that?

Mom treated me to some nail spa afterwards. THANK YOU MOM!

Life also hands out unexpected things, like saving us when their was this STUPID FRIGGING DRIVER who cut across a truck and got his sorry arche licked. Good thing despite his stupidity, only his car and the truck was damaged, phew nobody got really hurt. Well maybe his ego. Good thing we didn’t get hit in the process because we were only seconds away from being hit too. Moral of the story: DRIVE SAFELY AND BE WARY OF CRAZY DRIVERS.

So happy that you guys liked my post yesterday and everyone was raving about the bookstore! It was definitely beautiful wasn’t it? I wish I could stay there forever… it was too bad I went there at night time, then I got a kebab afterwards! The streets beside it were alive and bouncing.

My readers before would know of my student exchange last year from August-December and I remember telling everyone that I would write about it day by day, but life is all about focusing and moving onwards. So I decided to just feature something with each post. Doesn’t have to be in chronological order. I shall definitely still have plans to post on my Eurotrip guidelines. Pls watch out for it!

Last post I featured Shakespeare and Company in Paris, now I shall feature…

what else but the Eiffel Tower?

We girls were screaming when we first saw a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower as our friend’s uncle drove us to his place on our first night in Paris and we screamed even more when we saw it up close! It was… awesome! We even saw a raid! Let the pics tell you all

Sorry for the lack of whacky pics, there are more whacky videos, I took a video of our flight up the Eiffel Tower (2nd floor only GAACKK we climbed 704 steps, IT WASN’T EASY.) Will upload it sometime

Questions:
1. Do you have a tumblr? Photo blog?
2. Anything unexpected that happened today?
3. Share a joke

Guess how i’m writing this post? Hahaa

Well am using iPhone!! Haha tis awesome really how technology works. I am soo happy that you guys have visited and commented once again! I really shall visit you guys when next week comes because life would be more free then. A bit then i go to my internship duties!

And before anything else… PLS WELCOME MY TWO NEW HOSTEES, ALYSSA AND TARYN!! Pls do visit them!!

I really wanted to share a book with you guys. I picked up this book in The Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris, France (every wall had a book crammed in, even the sides of stairs were not spared. It was the dream place of every bookworm!) even if saw this book here in the phils, the cover drew me to grab and sniff the pages, flip through them and just hold on tight and never let go. Im a judge a book by a cover type of person (because covers are part of books too though harry potter is my totem for breaking this rule of mine back then) and i fell in love with this edition. I wasn’t sure of the plot yet but i bought it anyway along with another book. After reading it tonight, i couldn’t help shed a tear. Scratch that tears.

It was wonderfully told in the point of view of a german girl living with a german family during the second world war. I have a bias towards holocaust novels and i love them for some reason. Maybe because i felt humanity in their pages. Of how humanity is capable of such goodness and extreme atrocity, what a wonderful and dreadful paradox! I loved Number by the stars and the Diary of Anne Frank but this book i shall remember up to my grave because of such compelling charactwrs. I cried at the hopelessness and futility of it all. And i remembered the fall of tearsdrops ive been shedding the past few days. Maybe it was because of academcs, of the intense pain of enduring that “cleanig” session in the derma a while ago which involves needles (yes it hurt like hell), and of whatever shallow or whatever reasons, i’ve been tearing up.

But then i contemplate and i try to still see some goodness in life. After all we’re here and we can’t do anything about it. There must be a reason why everything was made like this right? Sorry for such thoughts but I need to reflect a lot especially since my Philosophy final orals is next week and our professor wants insights, not just some parroting students. It’s a good thing too he let us watch Wit (HBO, 2001), a very um.. witty and remarkable tv film with the awesome Emma Thompson! I really loved how they explored death and the life of a person while the settings are only in the hospital or the university. It really does make you think…

I really do indeed recommend reading The Book Thief and watching Wit! Please do because these are such gems and am sure it’ll add something to your thoughts and reflection. Thanks so much for bearing this post. OH YEAH!! Pls do add me in Shelfari or Mubi if anybody has an account and follow me by clicking on the icons on my social slider on the left! Mubi is a site for movie lovers and they can share lists and… stuff haha. I still have a lot to fix actually around here O_O will get to it next week!

Questions:
1. Have you taken up or do you want to take a Philosophy class?
2. Have you read or watch them? If ever did you like it?
3. Share a thought for the day! (even… hey there are violent flying Asian carps invading America! or something like that… but yeah i did watch that in National Geographic yesterday XD)

Originally posted on Novemeber 7, 2010. PICS NOT INCLUDED

***WARNING POST CONTAINS 2000+ WORDS WARNING***
Okay this post is a lie. Well of course it isn’t exactly the first day of my junior term abroad (I AM SO SORRY for not returning your comments yet guys!! for link exchanges, i will get to it TOMORROW! Please do email me when you want to link ex. Check the Contact page, THAANKKS!! SUPER THANK YOU FOR STILL VISITING ME!) and it’s already the…. okay I haven’t really counted yet. But first let me explain my situation better for my friends. Some are wondering what the heck am I doing in France. I mentioned before that I was going on a junior term abroad. It’s a program that my university offers that sends eligible students – it’s hard to get in this program, ARGH really T_T – to universities all over the world with waived tuition and in my science and engineering department, countries like Japan, Hong Kong, France, Germany, etc was offered. I chose France because… well… I wanted to experience a totally new culture while studying among other interesting people. I think that it’s a great opportunity and it’d be a waste not to grab it. The thought of going to new places and meeting new people… it’s exhilarating and the thought of being independent, it’s awesome and sad too since I can’t help but miss everyone back home. But it’s an awesome way to challenge yourself. So there, I made my choice (and also Japan’s slots were all taken so… XD) and have been living in Lille, France since September (nope guys, I’m not based in Paris XD)

I want to write so many things but if I do that I’d go on forever. Some of my friends here and abroad have started a travel/exchange blog already while I have stopped. Well I haven’t really. Ever since my blog went down for 2 months, I have been writing everything in the little notebook that I bought a few months ago. Finally I have a tangible diary of some sorts. It’s where I keep track of all my expenses too. I do miss blogging though and I would have blogged too if my site didn’t go down. ARGH

Anyway we shouldn’t cry over spilled milk right? I better just tell my tale now whilst I waste some few hours in the morning in my hostel in Berlin (I LOVE MY HOSTEL. It has free linens, hair dryer, towel, toiletries, own shower, mirror, cabinet, etc for just 16 euros!! Go Plus Berlin!) evening back in my residence from Amsterdam . I will try to recount it day by day. First day is special because well of course that’s when everything happened so better save an entry for the first day! Am not sure if I’ll be able to catch up to present day now but you can always check out my plurk or twitter to see what I’m doing already.

August 26 12:00 AM (Philippine time)
~ I was still too busy doing my last minute-packing and I was instant messaging like crazy to my friends. I miss them so much! Only 3 hours until I leave this place yet as usual I was still busy packing. I couldn’t contain my excitement and anxiety too so my body didn’t want to sleep at all. By 1:00am I was so tired so I did sleep already, hoping I didn’t leave anything. Woke up at around 2:30am and knew that today was THE DAY. Had to get moving! I hugged my doggies for the last time until December and went to the airport with my parents. Unlike my other friends who were going with me, their whole family was there, my brother is in Australia so he really can’t make it (man it’s been 6 months since i last saw him). I was quite late (got there around 4:30am already) and my fellow JTA-mates and friends, Enzo and Joyce were already there. I couldn’t linger and now that I think about it, I wasn’t able to give my parents the proper goodbye. They hugged and kissed me but it was all going too fast. My mom isn’t much of a sentimental person but my dad was a bit. I was uh.. half half but I felt so sad when I left them and realized heck I will be on my own now for 4 months. Good thing Joyce and Enzo were with me.

Everything was going smoothly until I opened my big mouth and asked about travel tax. Darn these stupid travel tax people didn’t even know whether we should pay or not. Heck I asked the person in front and the Cathay Pacific guy already said no, but stupid travel tax people insisted that since it’s an online booking ticket, we still haven’t paid them. Curse them really, took a lot of time and confused a lot of people. They robbed us off a few pesos CRAP THEM. And yeah our immigration area in the airport had a huge banner saying SERVICE WITH A SMILE. Yeah right, the people I talked in the immigration absolutely didn’t smile at all. Grumpy people greeted us really. Siigghhss… Well let’s give them the benefit of the doubt, it was 5am and they were working so early so maybe they were pissed or something.

I was very happy with Cathay Pacific though! The check in baggage limit was only 20 kg but they let me in with 27kg and I didn’t even have to beg them! All the guy said was he’ll let me through this one time. And Cathay airplane food was surprisingly good! Though the seats are quite more cramped than before. Arrived in Hong Kong Intl Airport and I loved being in Hong Kong again. Definitely one of my favorite cities! Had an extremely long flight to London, was it 13 hours? Gosh I watched 2 movies and some Big Bang Theory eps, slept of course and listened to some music. And then FINALLY we landed in LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT! It was a dream come true for me to be finally stepping on London soil (or airport grounds) because… I dearly love England! I love it more than Paris (okay kill me now XD) because of the stories and everything. Plus there’s a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream vending machine there… and the people there were all so darn nice. We were mistaken and the check in lady thought that we were from Philadelphia haha! Those security people were also very nice and cheerful. British Airways plane was a tad bit small… it was quite amusing though because Europeans are definitely taller people so it was hard to move around. I was already so tired so imagine me passing out on that one hour plane ride with my head angling to the aisle. Hope I didn’t drool or anything. Man was really so tired!

Enzo’s friend’s mum’s friend (yes he has a LOT of connections) picked us up from Charles de Gaule airport in PARIS and then we finally found Mariel on the other terminal (she flew with KLM instead) and right on the very first meeting, we encountered our first CULTURE SHOCK. We girls received our first French greeting (kiss to cheek)! It surprised us all especially since in Filipino culture, you only do beso beso to your family relatives. He was really so nice though and we stayed at the brother-in-law’s apartment. While in the car, we caught a glimpse of the top of the Eiffel Tower and we kinda went gaga over it. Coz we were in PARIS!! It’s one of my dream cities and we’re driving through it! Frigging awesome! And the European architecture, cobble stones, cute little cafes, they’re ALL THERE! Too bad we arrived late at night and all we wanted to do was sleep. We didn’t even get to eat breakfast

Aug. 27 6:20am (Paris time)
We headed out to the train station lugging around 100kgs worth of baggage. We had to catch our train to Poitiers, France. Enzo’s family became very good friends with their French neighbors back in the Philippines and they still maintain contact so we were invited to stay with them for 5 days! So there we were, waving goodbye to the brother-in-law and rode our very first European train. It’s quite something else really because Europe has such a good rail system (and they’ve been maintaining these lines for hundreds of years, AMAZING) so the trains are quite well kept and very different from the Philippines’ (heck ours are dilapidated XD). Too bad it was delayed for 30 minutes though! So this is the French way We happily boarded the train and oohed and ahhed at the amazing view of the French countryside. We forgot to ask one very important question though… which stop is Poitiers? I mean how many stops is it from Paris? So we kinda panicked and sort of rushed to fix our baggage after the 5th stop (i think) only to find out through this really good French guy (he speaks good English!) that we weren’t in Poitiers yet. Thank you kind stranger! We were so rattled already though because these trains only stop for about 1 minute so we had to carry all our luggage out of the train in just 1 minute. It was kind of hard

Finally we arrived and were greeted by the most charming French mom that I’ve ever met! She was so nice and even gave us BREAKFAST and our VERY FIRST FRENCH BREAD which will soon turn out to be my favorite French bread. PAIN AU CHOCOLAT (chocolate bread!) It was HEAVEN I tell you, biting into that first crunch of bread and looking outside of the car and marvel at the amazing sunflower fields. It was kinda magical and magic-like.

We arrived in their village and saw the difference of French architecture immediately. French houses are kind of connected/stuck together like townhouses. They may look small from the outside but the French certainly know how to maximize space. For some weird reason, a French family of 7 (5 kids, 2 parents) can afford to fit in 4 extra people. Seriously how do they do it? Their house was so cute and lovely. I’ll just let the pictures do the talking.

We met the cutest kids, Charlig (8) and Guillem (12) who were so interested to learn English so they knew some basics already. We also met their beautiful 14 year old daughter Solene and 18 year old son Aymeric. Brieuc, Enzo’s childhood classmate/friend was couch surfing in London so we had to wait for 3 days to see him. We instantly love the family at once because they were so good and kind to us. We talked more with the kids though and they were so adorable with them teaching us French games and words while we taught them English. Well more on that in my next post. They were quite shy on the first day but who wouldn’t be? I’d be shy too when someone I don’t know comes to stay in our house. The French are frank and do speak their mind (they do know the limit though) and for some reason, they LOVE inviting people over even us friends of friends. I can’t help but compare it to our culture. Would you easily accept a friend of a friend of a friend to stay over at your house? It’ll be hard right? But they made us feel at home and gosh, they are the sweetest!

Well for the first day, we had our first “formal” French breakfast! Cereal, tea, bread and amazing jam! We also bumped into another culture shock. Did you know that the French usually drink their tea/coffee OUT OF A BOWL? So imagine us going O_O when Tita Armelle (the awesome French mom) gave us bowls FOR TEA. She even asked us if she did anything wrong because our reactions were really :O so we explained and she forgot that we use bowls for cereals or soup back in the Philippines. It was really so funny! We also help cook our very first FRENCH DISH! Hachi Parmentiere, basically it’s beef with mashed potatoes and cheese on top. Heck it was so yummy and I am definitely gonna cook that back home. Then Tita Armelle just toured us around Poitiers and it’s such a lovely city of France. A very town-y vibe and I love it. Sometimes the city just gets too much.

I guess I better stop now, promise that there’ll be a new entry soon! I’ll have to catch up soon though it’ll be very hard because we’re traveling more these last 2 months. Have to make the most out of my stay in Europe! Not to mention I do have to study for finals next week!

Pics galore then my friends! If you want to see all my pics, please add me as a Facebook friend! I am very picky though and I as much as possible I just don’t want to add anyone. Do leave me your e-mail or facebook page and I’ll be the one to add you. I sort of set my privacy settings to the max so it’s kinda hard to add me and don’t be shocked at my change of last name, it’s for… security purposes

Updates when I update!

POSTED ON MARCH 6, 2011. PICS ARE NOT INCLUDED ANYMORE.

Hello again my brethren! My it seems like the last time I talked to you guys was 2 months ago, well actually… *checks last real post*, oh it was indeed 2 months ago!

I have figured out that writing everything in a day-to-day format would probably be bloody for my keyboard, I could probably write a hundred thousand or more words and it probably still won’t be done. So here it goes guys, I’ll just try to work it out by categorizing a bunch of days that seemed significant for me. Such as the four days of living with a French family.

Have you ever considered to completely forget who you are, culturally and filially for a few days? I got to experience that (but don’t worry! I was a good daughter and still contacted my parents) by living with my friend’s French family friend in Poitiers. In case you’re all wondering where Poitiers is, here’s some help with visual aid.

To help you more, this was what Poitiers looked like for me

It’s a beautiful land of greenery and blue skies

A land where you can meet Donkeys anywhere and feed them and eventually be poisoned by Poison Ivy (wethinks? Mariel’s hand hurt and stung like mad, I advised Mariel to just let cold water run through it. French mom later advised us that the first thing that we must do when poisoned, SPIT ON IT)

A land where you can freely go blackberry-picking or anyberry-picking…. French mom baked a blackberry pie afterwards. YUMMY! You haven’t tasted heaven until you’ve eaten a blackberry pie from France.

A land where you can approach a huge sunflower and whack its head so that you can harvest these sunflower seeds and bake them…. Ahh now I really know where sunflower seeds came from!

So hopefully you’ve gotten a sufficient glimpse of Poitiers. I’d really want to build a vacation house here just because it’s so simple and beautiful. Maybe not as busy as Monaco, Marseilles or Nice but you get nature and relaxation.

Living with a French family you will sound find out is not that different with living with your own family,

You go to the bakery/boulangerie everyday

You hang out in the backyard

You go grocery shopping

You carry logs for winter with a couple of cute little helpers (now wait a minute…)

You read books

You party like maadd

See? I told you that they’re not as different as Filipino families. You learn a lot from them though. You learn some of their customs, such as during at a dinner table, only the men can pour wine in the wine glass of the ladies beside them so if ever a lady is not sitting next to a guy, uh oh! This isn’t that observed in French households though. French meals are usually composed of bread, salad, fruits. The French also customarily wait for everyone in the family to settle down and then eat. It’s queer though that the French reuse their “basahan” at the table. I mean for the next meal. Is it queer for you? It is for me Also I learned that the French OPEN UP TO STRANGERS. Yes that’s so true! I mean look at us, we’ve never met them before, they were a friend of friend so we were quite unsure how they’ll accept us, but they did it with open arms. Heck they had beds for us, they let us eat EVERYTHING, eve more. They didn’t hesitate to tell that we should be frank with them (and yes, the French WILL ALWAYS SPEAK THEIR MIND) ALWAYS and they won’t mind it. I was also able to attend French masses and in their mass, they don’t have the Apostle’s Creed, they also do not genuflect. Oh and the French greeting is always a kiss. Stranger or friend, they kiss (unless guy-to-guy, only close friends do that). Okay maybe forget all of these but do not…. do not ever forget to NEVER ENRAGE A FRENCH. They’re scary when they’re angry I tell you. SCARY.

I won’t ever forget the kindness of the Renaudin family. They were so kind to us. The kids especially, they were the ones who showed us around and taught us our very first French. They were SO ADORABLE!! Haha thank goodness for Facebook and MSN. Heck our first family dinners were quite… painful for me because everyone was speaking in rapid French, while poor us could only ogle, nod our hands, and let our ears and brains bleed. One of the toughest moments of our lives but eventually after four months, we got used to it.

So one embarrassing thing happened in Poitiers… click to read ▼

Sighs… I’ll never forget that family. Till we meet again!! <3

P.S. the purpose of our stay with the French family was because we took an August 26 flight, the cheapest flight. Our classes did not start until September though so instead of paying our lousy residence fee (half month price) for 5 DAYS, we decided to stay first with my friend’s friend. We headed off to Lille on September 1 but that’s another story. If you haven’t read my first two days in France, please head over to this post.