- i'll try to upload other pics later. time for some sleep
[updates]
- uploaded the "behind the scenes". still working on the others.
- panalo Ateneo ng 2 points! wuhoo ;P one big fight!
[updates]
- uploaded the bohol pics
- my skin (shoulder and back) are peeling off from the sunburn ;P
[final update]
done!
it's 3 in the morning. reminds me of Matchbox 20's song..
the past few weeks offered more than a few topics to blog about. sa showbiz pa lang madami na: the alleged Wowowie scandal which resulted to a (yet again) Joey De Leon vs. Willie Revillame word war. sorry Willie but i'm so PRO-Vic-and-Joey eh :D hindi naman dahil sa mas malinis si Joey sayo Willie but he's at least wiser. who's apologizing now? man don't let yourself look good by making other people look bad.. si Camille Prats daw dyontis?! well at least according to a Chikka Minute report.. si Pokwang napagkamalang si Lucy Liu daw nung nasa Hong Kong. huuwaaatt?? in fairness medyo hawig huh haha.. sa ibang paksa, who'd forget about Malu Fernandez' insensitive article in a magazine which fueled so much hatred amongst our OFW kababayans. di na ko mag-comment. she doesn't deserve to have a space here in my blog anyway.. Cris Mendez, that graduating UP student who allegedly died of hazing rites.. hmm ano pa ba? in sports. Team USA's championship. KB24 coming to Manila. 2nd round matchup of Ateneo and LaSalle tomorrow este mamaya na pala hehe.. actually i don't have to look farther to have something to blog about. i can just tinker with my heart and write about so much stuff. but i'd like to pass on to that. to have an escape from the norm is better. something that is great in essence. thus the title.
for like many people, i live in a mass of humanity in a city. that corresponds to higher paying jobs (compared to rural areas of course), more opportunities, bigger and better movie theaters, faster internet connection, 24-hour shops/food stalls, closer to being so-and-so "hi-tech", among others. but city-living somehow requires you to trade off other essential things: better and longer sleep, more quality time with loved ones, quiet living, affinity with mother nature (ahh fresh air!), and allow me to mention, peace of mind. so to escape, i seek the opposite: a place where there are only few people and away from the stressful city life.
last weekend i found myself, together with some folks from work, just in the right place (Bantayan island in Cebu) at the right time (low season). except for a minor freak accident on the road, i guess the back-breaking almost four-hour bus ride from Mandaue city to Hagnaya port and an hour ferry ride to the island just added more crave to our already excited selves. whoever said that Bantayan island is "Boracay 20 years ago" is indeed a keen observer. pristine white sand, clear waters, clean and green, less commercialized, ahh the preserved tranquility. with just the right amount of sunlight and lots of time on our hands we let our sun-starved bodies enjoy every moment. the downside of working on graveyard shift? you're deprived of the sun! :) except for a handful of foreign and local tourists (my count stopped at 11) the beach was all ours, and that's the best part of it! eating was a slow affair, in an empty restaurant overlooking the beach. saan ka pa? it rained during our breakfast but that's fine. it is during this rainy season that locals hunker indoors and foreigners stay away making it ideal for an escape. we could laugh and talk freely while marveling nature's beauty or even stay up late worrying about nothing. or maybe how to get tanned evenly. that previous statement was merely intended for the girls i'd suppose, right boys? yeah right!! :P
and so there was i. been a while that i had this time to just relax and free my mind of so much thinking. i was engrossed in the moods of the sea and the sky i just sat in the terrace of our beach front room, sometimes standing by the shoreline with bare feet in the sand staring aimlessly on the horizon. ahh, de-stressing. and unknowingly someone took my picture during the bliss (see below pic).
vacations like these rouse the amateur photographer kuno in me but since i stupidly did not prepare my camera gears i was left with no other choice but to not bring Iya along. how can it function without batteries? stupid esse!? so i gladly volunteered to be the group's photographer at most times. that explains why there's not much with me on it. mind you, to 'gladly' volunteer is fundamentally difficult since i'm a Canon user and i had to use Nikon digital SLRs. don't get me wrong guys, those gadgets are a beauty but tsk tsk those complicated menus and controls, whew! haha :P *showing the peace sign* but i hate to admit, that experience left me now with just one barrier to finally buy one from the dark side hehe. you guessed it right, moola :D i am now a believer. but that's another blog story..
i'm out for words, i'll just let the pictures speak for themselves. besides choosing a few from a quite a number and creating a mosaic takes much time and an hour has passed since my first sentence..
L-R, by columns (credits go to Sherwin, Manny, Kakai, AJ and temyong for the pics):
1. the group, hereon refered to as "THEM"; 2. @ Mactan airport; 3. ferry to Bantayan; 4. breakfast
5. breakfast @ Tiffany's?; 6. sand writing by Kakai; 7. flags; 8. the girls
9. THEM @ Bantayan ; 10. breakfast table; 11. shoreline; 12. cottage
13. beach walk 14. girls, sandbar (background); 15. the girls again; 16. who else?
on our 3rd day we banked on a side trip to Bohol. again i volunteered to be the group's photographer, tour guide (my 4th time in this wonderful place) and spur. pictures will show you the group had a great time..
L-R, by columns (credits go to Sherwin, Manny, and temyong for the pics):
1. THEM, off to Bohol; 2. THEM @ Tagbilaran port; 3. THEM @ the blood compact site; 4. "itaas mo!"
5. "greenhills"; 6. THEM @ chocolate hills; 7. the girls; 8. setup shot
9. higante sa burol; 10. for the sake of a good photograph :) 11. jump shot; 12. AJ
13. come fly with me; 14. double float; 15. landing; 16. THEM @ the hanging bridge
17. hands off; 18. buffet @ Loboc river cruise; 19. Loboc river; 20. THEM during the cruise
21. tarsiers; 22. Manny with Prony the python; 23. eagle (sayang hindi blue hehe); 24. Panglao island
some behind the scenes and legit stolen shots..
L-R, by columns (credits go to Sherwin, Manny, AJ and temyong for the pics):
1. @ Bantayan; 2. the Spaniards trying out Greenwich's Tropicool; 3. @ Bohol; 4. setup shot; 5. @ Bantayan
6. mini pictorial; 7. jump shot; 8. stolen; 9. @ Loboc river; 10. akala ko lang naman. cge na mali na ko :P
three reasons why i do things like these: one, my stress level has reached its peak; two, just to satisfy that need to get away; OR i am terribly sad. i guess a little of everything had its share as to why i escaped..
at the end of our four-day vacation i think everybody enjoyed and really had a great time. planning this trip months back with goals of us being and doing things together beyond our toxic working schedule and of course to bond with each other. i personally felt those goals were met. it's a great feeling to be a part of other people's joy, di ba? once you see them happy it uplifts your spirit..
as for me, still blue..
