Travelling Around the World

Asthma, asthma go away!

Let the love begin!

Daraga, Albay

SECONDtwentyfirstBIRTHDAY

lupitkotalaga:

 It will be my second 21st birthday - term from my friend Greco - on the 13th. But before that, my sister’s birthday comes first. Tomorrow January 9 will be her _____ birthday. [Fill in the blank my lovely ate :) ] 

So, with all the love and care given by my La’ familia my Mother decided to celebrate all the birthdays tomorrow. [This includes my Brother’s birthday last year (Dec 6), Ate’s Birthday (Jan 9), and my birthday (Jan 13)].

             And since it’s our birthdays I have created a wish list for us.

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thedailywhat:

Look At This Resilient Dog of the Day: A Welsh Corgi named Ole, who managed to survive the avalanche that killed one of his owners, surprised his family by showing up four days later at their motel room in Cooke City, Montana.

“I just saw it outside sitting by the room, which is pretty amazing,” said avalanche specialist Mark Staples.

Dave Gaillard of Bozeman was killed after being buried by an avalanche southeast of town in Hayden Creek. His wife Kerry managed to escape by clinging to a tree.

“His last words to me were, ‘Retreat to the trees.’ I think he saw what was coming from above, that I did not see. That reflects Dave’s amazing quality — thinking of others,” she told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

Ole was believed to have been buried under the snow as well, but must have tunneled his way out. Still, the trek back to Cooke City was likely treacherous, with temperatures below freezing, and deep snow that would be taxing for the dog’s short legs.

“How in the world he made it, I don’t know,” said Kay Whittle, the wife of a local businessman who returned the pup to his family. “If he could just talk — who knows what he did from the day of the avalanche until today?”

[billings / photo: photoblog / thanks abby!]

Happy New Year love ones!

7 Hours before New Year- A smile for 2011

Rating the best year of my life, it could probably be 2011. I’m not really sure of it because I am in my deepest gratitude with God for having given me the best of the best of at least what I could imagine I could have right now.

My 2011 started with the very first hang out with my eldest sibling, after a misunderstanding, outside the country. It was a 4-day seminar in Singapore and I was booked at Changi Village Hotel. I remember having scolded by the speaker because I was practically falling asleep at the comfort of my couch in the conference room because I totally lacked sleep. The reason behind was hanging out every night with my sibling accompanied by her friend in wherever corner of Singapore our feet would bring us. I would always laugh when ever I remember my sister crouching at the corner of the Bus eating Siopao so she won’t be caught by the bus surveillance camera. She finished two Jumbo- sized Siopao before we arrived at Sentosa. I was assigned for two months in Singapore and was coming back from time to time. Singapore has brought back the bond we used to have when we were kids. And it feels great.

I left Singapore on the middle of April and went to Labuan, Malaysia. I had great company with new friends/workmates. One of them even made me the Godfather of a beautiful baby girl. Labuan is a place to waste money. It is an Island where every corner is a pub. It is probably the place where you could find almost all shopping centers bearing the name “Duty Free”. I would call it a Sin Island. I had so much fun playing pool, eating “mi goring”, and drinking every night. I gained 10 kilos for a month stay there. And my dream of buying a new car was doomed.

I went home learning that I have enough savings to buy a car. I then asked my dad to accompany me in choosing one. My mom went with us in the first day of search. We went to every showroom of different makers and finally decided to buy the New Ford Ranger. I chose mica black for its color. I bought it paying a percentage of the price and having the rest on installment basis. It was released on the 11^th of May and I realized that I was actually buying a car not knowing how to drive and not having a driver’s license. The car wasn’t actually for me but I own it. It was an unspoken gift for our parents for their 26^th Wedding Anniversary. My eldest sibling shares the load of the monthly amortization. Unlike other kids who ask their parents for a car, we didn’t. We gave them a car and feel more than the happiness of having it your own.

By the end of June, I left the country and went to Qingdao, China after buying a blue-eyed Labrador I gave to my parents. I stayed at Yahai Hotel for two months. My Job assignment was to take notes of deficiencies I might observe on the then being built ship “Pacific Phoenix”. Qingdao has been a place for wellness after the unhealthy lifestyle I had in Labuan. I would jog up a hill every afternoon after work where the whole city can be viewed on top. It is where the “World Famous Street” is located and a great place for shopping. I then bought my first DSLR. A Canon 600D. I strolled over the place taking pictures and it suddenly became a hobby to learn. At the last leap of stay in Qingdao, the company arranged a tour where we were brought to different historic places nearby. We had a pass at the Tsingtao Brewery and found ourselves drinking bottomless Tsingtao beer for free. Isn’t life so great?

I went back to Singapore early August and met a girl in a bookstore at Bukit Panjang who later became a good friend I was just having a chat with yesterday. The usual hang out with my sibling and the karaoke thing with some old friends working there eased the boredom of SG stay.

Bangkok, Thailand became my next stop I stayed for just few days and checked in at GrandInnCome Hotel. I went to the city and had a drink at night. A Thai Massage made my day. The morning after, I flew back to Manila. .

4 September, I was in manila.  A busy September. My niece was having a Grand Debut party at the Glass Garden where I was part of the 18 Roses and was the Master of Ceremony. It was the first time I wore a grey coat on top of a blue long sleeves, a cream slacks and a blue boat shoes all matched by my niece herself. It actually looked great. By then, she brought me to shop some clothes where she practically instructed me to avoid wearing my old T-shirts which I really loved. I then started to wear some checkered long sleeves match with slight- skinny jeans and of course, the boat shoes. The party was so fun that all the people having part of our lives were there and even stayed for an after-party at home. We drank until 7am and slept a while and was up at 2pm for a road trip to Cavite to show my eldest sibling, who went for a week vacation, the lot I bought there. I was surprised that everybody went and the 5-seater car became an 8-seater. It was actually a very fun day for all of us ending it with food trips at Phoa’ and Taco Bell in Gateway, Cubao. The next day, I flew back to Singapore for another 4-day seminar.

16^th of October was supposed to be a fun day when I left home at 9pm to meet my friends and load ourselves with beer. Five minutes after, I had a road accident with a motorcycle that crossed my lane hitting the side of the car. Luckily, the guy wasn’t badly hurt and my car wasn’t totally wrecked. It was still something to thank for that nothing worst happened. I found myself in a police station instead of hanging out with my friends.

 I flew back to Manila from Naga City first thing in the morning on the 17^th and flew to Dammam, Saudi Arabia at 7pm with a stop over at Abu Dhabi via Emirates. I stayed at Sheraton Hotel for two days. My high school friends from Ateneo dropped by, drank coffee, shared laughter and memories until I found myself seated in a sedan running 180km/h in a very long road across the deserts.

Back to work to join a team for an oil exploration in Zuluf Oilfield for three months ending this 17^th of January 2012, I finished the 100 movie goal for the year 2011 which I found hard to do since I’m not a movie fanatic. I have been reading lots of books also for the past two months and inspired by some of these. I have made new friends which I am grateful for. Indeed 2011 has been a fulfilling life both materially and emotionally. All these I am thankful to God.

365 Days, 100 Movies… What a Life!

Watching movies religiously for a year knowing that I don’t really have so much interest in movies had been a part of a routine in a less busy day. A hundred movies for 2011 as promised to cope up with the great movies I missed for the past 20 years since the day I started to understand what I’m seeing. Though I surely didn’t see thousands of it, a hundred may do for the meantime. I devoted my time watching whenever possible except at home. It was a great deal bonding with my family in a movie house though I paid the tickets all the time. Most part of the movie thing was with my niece that we jumped from one cinema to another until our eyes sore to death. I took some time to watch with the great selection of the airlines I was with since I travel with average flights of 10 times a year. At some time, when I’m booked in a hotel for a day or two before my job assignment, I watched HBO to ease the boredom. Here’s the list! Tell me which of which you’ve seen and liked…

1. Adventure Land

2. The Expendables

3. Take the Lead

4. Johnny Tao

5. The Bucket List

6. Salt

7. School of Scoundrels

8. Step Up

9. Black Superman

10. Body of Lies

11. Santum

12. The Money

13. Brothers

14. Flashdance

15. Les Miserables

16. Wild Things

17. The Lost boys

18. The Weather Man

19. Flipped

20. Now You Know

21. Bakit Ngaun Ka Lang

22. Prince of Persia

23. Lion King

24. Sex Drive

25. The Tourist

26. The Five People You Met in Heaven

27. Semi-Pro

28. Paycheck

29. The Bunny House

30. The Medallion

31. As Good as it Goes

32. About a Boy

33. 100 Girls

34. Pirates of the Caribbean 3

35. Kung Fu Panda 2

36. The Priest

37. Crazy Little Thing Called Love

38. Xmen First Class

39. Rio

40. Fast Five

41. The Spy Next Door

42. Invincible

43. Death at a Funeral

44. Toy Story 3

45. Another Cinderella Story

46. Just Like Heaven

47. Big Mama, Like Father Like Son

48. Mama, I want to Sing

49. The Black Swan

50. Captain Barbell

51. When Love Begins

52. Life as We Know It

53. The Last Kiss

54. Nothing Hill

55. Over Her Dead Body

56. August Rush

57. Prime

58. Zombadings

59. Johnny English

60. No Other Woman

61. Memphis Bell

62. What women Want

63. Agent Cody Banks 2

64. Police Academy

65. Billy Madison

66. The Strangers

67. Blindness

68. Whiteout

69. People vs. Larry Flint

70. Jobberwocky

71. False Prophets

72. My Best friend’s Girl

73. The Breakfast Club

74. The Kingdom

75. This is England

76. The Other Boleyn Girl

77. True Romance

78. Prayers for Bobby

79. Alvin and the Chipmunks

80. Breaking and Entering

81. Picnic at Hanging Rock

82. The Devil’s Advocate

83. One Night at McCool’s

84. Happy Gilmour

85. The Fan

86. Saints and Soldiers

87. Female Agents

88. No Country for Old Men

89. Last Action Hero

90. Little Nicky

91. Meet Joe Black

92. Backdraft

93. From hell

94. Pitch Black

95. Blade

96. Green Street

97. Executive Decision

98. Kelly’s Heroes

99. The Beast with a Billion Backs

100. *batteries not included

Christmas is Everywhere even if it’s Forbidden!

“Merry Christmas! Where are you?”, a friend said in a chat via FB. I told her I’m in Dammam, Saudi Arabia in the middle of an oil exploration somewhere I don’t know they call Zuluf Oilfield where only a number of seismic vessels are around and only Oil platforms/Rigs are the nice view during sunset. Then she asked me, “How would you then spend Christmas? A sigh.

It’s 1548H here and I’m seated in my little office after a Christmas Jam with my crewmates in the recreation room. We were having a Karaoke singing 80’s songs. That’s what at least we have to have fun on these holidays where we are actually working. The exploration seems endless that we don’t even have a simple Sunday break like everybody does.

The spirit of Christmas is there though. As I woke up awhile ago to start my midnight shift, I checked my phone and found quite many greetings for Christmas. The first smile at exactly 0001H, December 25, 2011. As I left my room, I saw some crew who gave their best shots in greeting “Merry Christmas!”.  I was surprised how the hell they know about Christmas or I’m just stupid that I don’t know they knew. Quite surprising that these people of different nationalities and different religions are celebrating the seasons with us, Christians. Onboard are Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, etc. who are Indians, French, Arabs and British. I was actually surprised by the Muslims.

As I enter the dining, I found the room bright with all the decors in it. And a Christmas tree being decorated by the catering department composed of Indian Nationals who are Muslims and Buddhist. And they decorated it well! The decors were in place I remembered my third grade classroom having the same decors in the room. My second Christmas smile.

I came back to the dining at noon and was surprised with all the food in the table and all the people hanging around. I was late for the party!

To my friends who are asking how Christmas is celebrated in Saudi speak for yourselves by looking at the photos I took from my phone awhile ago. Merry Christmas to All!

It’s been a month!