Part I: Let's Talk about MONEY

If you are one of my friends whom I've bullied encouraged to read, you've been warned that you will be reading a novel. And thank you for that! That's what friends are for and In short essays and in long novels are really our mottos! :p

If you are reading this because it was shared to you by someone, you were forced by someone and/or you found this floating in the world wide web, I am warning you this early that this will be LOOOOONG BUT THIS (series) WILL BE WORTH IT! :)

I originally planned for this to be just ONE entry but when my fingers started typing, it was too late for me to realize that it was already too long and I haven't given the juiciest part yet! And so, this will be a SERIES! :)



source

I have written this entry not because I will pass for Forbes Top 100 richest people (not even Top 10million maybe) nor because I am trying to lure you into my networking business (though I have one, this will be the first and the last time that I will mention the N word in this entry). The main reason is plain and simple: I want to share something that may have a big impact on other people (because it certainly had a big impact on me).

Money is one of the topics that is considered taboo in our culture. We will never have the guts to ask even our close friends questions related to money like, "How much do you earn?" , "How much savings do you have in the bank?" or even "How do you manage your money?". Consequently, our parents will try to the best of their abilities to shield us from any financial woes that they may be experiencing. Yes, we may feel that the cash flow is a bit tight because we don't go shopping every week anymore but they will never verbalize the problem for as long as they can. I am not saying that not talking about it is wrong and that we should go asking anyone we met about their financial status. In my opinion, that tense feeling and you-can-almost-hear-the-dropping-needle-because-it-is-so-quiet environment every time money pops up in the conversation is mainly due to the fact that we are so not used to talking about it therefore, we think it is impolite to talk about it.

I belong to the middle class and I earn relatively higher than others (mostly because I am an OFW thus I do not need to pay taxes in my home country). However, in my almost 29 years of existence and almost 8 years of working full time (including my 2 years and counting as an OFW), I was not very happy with the state of my finances when I started seriously looking into it a year ago. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining nor asking for pity because like what I said, I am sure that I have more savings than some 29 year old people that I know. My unhappiness comes not from having "less" money but from having "less" money because of financial illiteracy. According to http://www.financialliteracy.gov.au/, financial literacy is about understanding money and finances and being able to confidently apply that knowledge to make effective decisions. 

source

Almost a year and a half ago when things started to get a little more "stable", I also started looking into the state of my finances. And it was such a mess! For someone who is good in Math (at least in Arithmetic and Algebra, hahaha), I felt ashamed that I had no idea where my earnings went! :(  That day marked my "enlightment" about my finances.

I will share some personal things to give you an idea as to where I am coming / came from:

1) I am supporting my family. I am not saying this because I want to brag about it but because it is the truth. For the longest time that I am working, I spent bulk of what I earn to support my family. Looking back, I had no idea how I managed to do what I did. Praise God for His grace and provision.

2) It took me awhile to stop being an enabler. I first heard the term "enabler" when I was crying my heart out to a friend because I felt that I am already being financially and emotionally "abused" and he (that's the beauty of having guy friends, they give you direct to the point responses!) said that maybe it already became a cycle because I am an enabler. Meaning, in one way or another, I enabled them to be so dependent on me.

3) I started learning how to set boundaries. This proved to be very useful. It was hard at first because I was so used to giving in to their requests. I used to say generous but now I realized that it was not generosity, it was partly being an enabler and partly being stupid :D  Because of my "generosity", my problem with credit card  also started around this time.

4) I experienced receiving "calls" from a credit company because of my late/non payments. This credit card company called me 2-3 times only at my work place but I did not want to deal with that kind of stress (and shame) so I paid my credit card in full and asked them to close the account! That was when I learn to be scared with the misuse of credit cards because I experienced it first hand. Their calls at my work place was so horrific (and they were not even harassing me yet!) that I do not want to experience them again EVER.

5) I left my previous work in Manila (a few months before I flew to Jakarta) with negative finances. Yes, negative! Meaning, I had no savings in the bank and worse, I even left debt in my previous employer. I had no idea exactly as to how that happened but I am suspecting that the culprits were as stated above in (1) and and my love for travel. I was so blessed to have friends and family who helped me with my negative finances particularly because I am flying to a foreign country without any money in my pocket!

How did I survive?! What happened?! I will let you know anytime in the series (kung san ko maisipang isingit! hahaha!)

I do not regret the experiences I mentioned above because the lessons that I learned from them made me who I am today. I am surprised that those things happened to me but more importantly, the fact that I was able to weather the storm was a clear testament of God's providence.

My "enlightenment" about the state of my finances did not stop just from realizing that I've messed up (thank God!) but I started to educate myself about how to properly manage my finances. Contrary to what most people believe, my old self included, managing one's finances is not only for rich people. We should ALL learn and educate ourselves on how to manage our finances well.

These are the things that I did (and some of them, I am still doing) to educate myself and "untangle" my messed-up finances:

1) I started buying and reading books about money / managing finances. Those "business and/or finances" aisles in the bookstore that my old self NEVER visited are now my must-visit aisles. I do not feel guilty when buying books because I refer to books as my "personal investments". I also do not feel bored when reading books about money anymore :D Like what they said, you need to attract what you want to happen in your life.
PS: If an e-book works for you, then that is fine. I personally prefer investing on hardcopies because I am envisioning that these books will be placed in my future library for my future kids to read and learn from :)

2) Research, research and research. I did not only invest on books but I also invested time in researching particularly reading blogs that are very generous in discussing money matters. Try to google and you will be surprised to know that there are a lot of blogs in the web that are very generous with information. But of course, do not believe everything that you read. Remember to cross-reference (are all your references saying the same thing or is he the only one saying otherwise?) and that most scenarios are case-to-case basis.

3) Set reasonable goals. When I say reasonable, do not put 99% of your monthly salary as your target savings for the month. Yes, let us dream big but let us not forget that we cannot change things overnight. Just like a baby learning how to work for the first time, we need to take baby steps first. Just to let you know, I failed miserably the first year because I set too high expectations! But I am moving forward now :)

4) Start with what you can. When Alex and I discussed the state of our finances, we talked about where to start given the money that we have. I am very lucky that Alex is financially literate and continues to educate himself about handling finances.

So there you go, you now know how financially messed up I was (buti na lang past tense na! naks!)

Coming Up: very good tips I got from the book I've read

PS: This post was just "parked" in my draft folder since September 7 :)

Book 3 of 30: Bossypants by Tina Fey

One Two words: Sarcastically FUNNY.

I will be honest and say that all I know about Tina Fey is that she "impersonates" Sarah Palin in SNL. I haven't even watched an entire show of SNL (I know, I know) and the only episode that I've watched is JT's dick in a box because Alex kept laughing hard while telling me about it and was able to convince me to watch the said episode in youtube (and if you are wondering, yes, I laughed so hard after watching the video). So when I saw my well-read friend's list of books that she is recommending for me to read, I was quite surprised to see this book because I had no idea that Tina has already written a book. I even asked her about it and she said that she is HIGHLY recommending it so needless to say, this book made it to my list :)

If you are the type of person who judges the book by its cover, you will not be accused
of wrongly judging this book! (Ooops, sorry for the background :D )

This book was a very light read and really, really funny! Proof is that I've finished reading it in just a few days. Finishing a book in "just a few days" says a lot about how I've enjoyed it. In my kind of profession where TONS (and I mean TONS) of paperwork are waiting to be prepared, read and checked, I must have enjoyed a book for it to lure me to finish it before my pile of work :)

 

The book is a collection of autobiographical essays and will give you a glimpse of Tina's ups and downs. However, I never felt that she was being proud or boastful of her achievements nor feeling pitiful in her down moments because she was able to write things in a sarcastically funny way :) This may sound ridiculous but since I was so used with laughing, I expected that I will laugh at every line that she wrote. Thus, the result was I overanalyzed on some very few parts when she was actually serious! Hahaha!  :D The other disadvantage (for me at least) is that since the book was mostly written in the context of the western setting, I am quite sure that I missed the "inside jokes" on some people, events and/or places mentioned. There has got to be something funny in there! :D

 

My favorite part would be the one of the very very few "serious" moments in the book (well, serious compare to the other parts!) when she discussed about:

 

 

I've watched quite a few Improv shows (courtesy of my friend whose boyfriend is part of SPIT/ Silly People's Improv Theater) and their humor is way, way, way different and far from the numerous funny shows (ex. Vice Ganda shows) that are popular in the local television now. I was amazed with how these people (from Improv) think. One has to be quick, witty, smart and funny (but not in a slapstick-y way) to be able to survive in an Improv show. It actually made me think of participating in one of their workshops to develop my personality (who knows I might join them once I've finally mustered enough courage and guts). Just imagine facing an audience without memorizing a script because the flow of the show will depend on the audience responses! Whew! :) The rules of improvisation seen in the photo does not only apply to improvisation but to life as well. In a world where being right equates to being powerful, it is becoming difficult to say YES because we always want to prove our point (myself included) by negating someone else's point. Got my point? Haha! :D

 

Don't we just love funny people?

 

Being funny is the new sexy!

 

Now, how do I become funny? :p

 

You will see this in all my books because years from now
these labels will make me smile and remember good
things :)

 

 

 

 

  

Book 2 of 30: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Finally!!! After the easy breezy first book on my list came the medyo nakaka-nosebleed na second book! :D I actually planned it like that. I mean if you check my list you will notice that the books are quite diverse in genre. Some books are classic, some are "light", others inspirational or "religious". I want the "light" books to give me the break in between reading the "heavy" ones :)

Whoever recommended this book must be secretly mad at me! Aba e una, sobrang kapal at liliit ng sulat ha! Pangalawa, I had to consult my dictionary (thank God that I have the electronic one so I don't have to carry a thick dictionary around!) from time to time  for words that I don't know! :D

I will not even attempt to summarize most especially analyze and/or do a book review for the fear of misinterpretation. Like what I said in my entry about Book 1, I believe that each person has his own interpretation of the book that he reads. The highlights for me may not necessarily be the highlights for other people. The "scenes" that left a mark on me may just be usual scenes for other readers.

In a nutshell, I would say that Anna Karenina is a story about love (moral or immoral), religion and one's ability/desire to analyze and understand things, among others. Since reading for me is an escape and an opportunity to have a "field trip", this book brought me to the different part of the globe and on a totally different timeline at that (days when carriage/horses are still used as mode of transportation!). The book also left me questioning, analyzing and challenging my views on the important aspects of my life.

I now know why this is considered a classic.

PS:
I would rather not give you even the gist of the story.
Aba noh, basahin nyo rin ang 940 pages na font 9 ata
para bawi bawi lang! :p

NEXT BOOK: Something light.... Bossy Pants by Tina Fey

My FIRST EVER vegetarian week!

As I've mentioned in my previous blog entry, July 1st of this year marked my 6th year as a pescetarian. When I decided to give up eating meat, I originally intended to stop eating all kinds of meat including seafoods. However, Tita Tessa (gf of my Uncle Aries who's been a vegan for more than a decade now) advised me to have a "transition phase" thus the pescetarian diet.

Fast forward to July 2011, I again planned on giving up seafoods because I had an assumption that Indonesia will be very friendly with vegetarians since it is a Muslim country (I bought books including vegetarian cookbooks and researched information on the nutritional aspects of being one). Much to my disappointment, though most of the restaurants do not offer pork, chicken and beef are the highlights on the menu. Believe it or not, in my 2 years of stay here in Jakarta, I've only been to a vegetarian restaurant ONCE (not counting the vegetarian burrito that I normally buy in a food court nor the vegetarian meal given by a vegetarian parent). We (Angie and I) really planned our schedule just to try this vegetarian restaurant that is nearest to our place. Fortunately, Loving Hut did not disappoint! :) But we haven't had the chance to visit the place again because of our schedule (spell TRAFFIC in South Jakarta!).

I know that it is possible for me to cook my own food but I had so many reasons for not doing so, hehehe :D Since I anticipated that my schedule will still be a bit lighter after the Lebaran (Ramadhan) break plus I've discovered a grocery store that sells veggie meat, I decided to have a feel of how it is to be a vegetarian for a week.

After I attended the sunday service, I excitedly and hurriedly proceeded to Grand Lucky Superstore which is right across the building where the church is located! :) The week before I left for Manila for the Lebaran break, I've already "discovered" that they sell veggie meat / meat analog :) This is what my cart was filled with:



I really don't drink milk ( I am mild lactose intolerant, mild because I do eat ice cream and other food with milk BUT
I vomit when I drink milk! But I want to give soymilk a chance and I want to "train" myself to drink milk
 so I bought a box of it :)






Sa sobrang excited (at gutom!) e nakalimutan ko nang magpicture before I start eating. Ayan ang ebidensya!
Yes, that is RED rice! :) A little different for those who are used with white rice (ME!ME!ME!) but
it eventually gets better and definitely the healthier option :) 



 

I am happy to say that I've prepared all the dishes above except for the lower right. FYI, the yellow rice is what
Indonesians call nasi kuning (nasi for rice and kuning for yellow). It is made with rice, turmeric and coconut
milk. super yummy! :) 



These are some of the juices that I've made :) See the green smoothie at the middle (citrus breeze)? Wonder why
it's green? That's because I've added basil with fresh dalandan juice :) I maximized the use of spinach and
basil in preparing my fruit & veggie smoothies :)

 Syempre, hindi mawawala ang mga realizations ko! Hahaha! :D

1) Cooking is fun! I rarely cook that's why my close friends and family who know me so well really laugh at the idea of me cooking! :) pero hindi naman sa pagyayabang ha, nakapagluto naman na ako ng pininyahang manok, adobo at sinigang dati (as in dating dati pa! hahaha!) at sa awa ng Diyos e buhay pa naman mga tao sa bahay! :p Seriously though, I enjoyed cooking especially after tasting what I've prepared and realizing that I can create something :) I am actually considering learning how to bake, hmmm.....

2) Cooking requires passion, time and dedication. Since I am technically a non-cook, it usually takes me 1 hour to prepare my main meal for the day! That very simple spaghetti or the black pepper steak with broccoli shown above took me almost an hour EACH to prepare. For me to have a decent meal, I have to wake up at 5am to prepare/cook my food so I will be done by 6am to start preparing to go to work. I never realized na ang pagbabalat pala ng sibuyas, paghihiwa at paghuhugas ng mga gulay take so much time! But like what I said in number 1, it felt good to "create" something edible, hehehe :)

3) I know what I put in my mouth. Literally speaking, I do know what food I put inside my mouth. From the tiniest piece of garlic and onion to the amount of liquid aminos (vegan substitute for soysauce) and how the meat was prepared, I know all of those things! I am sure how healthy my foods are and I only have myself to blame if I end up eating unhealthy food!

4) I am grateful to the web and blogs who've been very generous with their recipes. I will be honest and say that I owe GOOGLE a lot! If I am not sure with what I am doing, I just google them and voila, it will lead the way! :D See the sandwich above? I got that recipe from Saab Magalona's blog and the sandwich was really good! (wheat bread, tomato, basil leaves and cream cheese). Most of the fruit and veggie smoothie recipes that I used came from simplegreensmoothies (via IG) but I normally tweak them based on what is available in our ref. Salamat sa internet! :)

5) I am inspired to share what I know. Though I admit that I don't know much about cooking, my overly-excited-cant-wait-to-broadcast-it-to-my-friends self just can't contain my "healthy" discoveries :) I have already bullied inspired my cousin, Ate Jenny, to buy her own blender so she can prepare her own fruit and veggie smoothies. At sosyal sya ha, 2 in 1 juicer/blender ang binili! Good job! :) Sa totoo lang, sa susunod naming potluck get-together (surprise bday party for someone, sshhh) e balak ko ng magdala ng sarili kong luto! Saan kaya ako kumukuha ng lakas ng loob ano?! :D

6) I can't wait to share it with my family (and future kids). O wag ma-excite, hindi po ako buntis! Hahaha! :D I am just excited with the idea that my future kids will be exposed to a healthy lifestyle. Ang swerte-swerte nila sa nanay nila!! Ah eh grabe po ang hangin dito! :D Pero seryoso na, naniniwala kasi ako na kapag ang bata ay nasanay o lumaki sa healthy lifestyle (food and physical activities) e hindi mo na kailangan na pilitin sila kapag medyo malaki na kasi yung healthy food na ang default nila kumbaga :)

I can't wait to learn and try out more recipes recommended by friends and/or found on the net. Please feel free to share any recipes that you have (preferably vegetarian recipes) :) Let us exchange recipes (ayan e kung may mapupulot kayo sa akin! Hahaha!) :D

I never imagined that I will say this but.... Happy cooking! :)

First Day High!

Technically, it's should be First Week High, hehehe :) School started last week for the kids but as always, teachers were earlier :)

Here are some photos of the seminar, official start of school and everything in between! :)

Happy 6th Year Anniversary to Me! :)

Today marks my 6th year as a pescetarian. According to pescetarianlife, a pescetarian diet excludes land animals and birds, but includes fish, mollusks, and crustaceans in addition to fruits, vegetables, plants, legumes, nuts, and grains.  Eggs and dairy may or may not be present in the pescetarian's diet.

I've been asked a thousand times about what made me decide to follow this diet (pescetarian + minimal dairy as much as possible), hehe :) Though majority of the people who adopt this kind of diet (up to the extent of being a vegetarian/vegan) say that their love for animals and/or advocacy against animal cruelty made them stick to their diets, my reason was mainly for my health :) I am blessed to have an uncle (including his girlfriend) who led by example and showed me that it is possible to enjoy one's meal without meat. At an early age, I've tried dining in a lot of vegetarian restaurants in the metro as well as accustomed to a household that respects "our" kind of diet.

To celebrate my 6th year anniversary, hehe, I will be mentioning some of my favorite vegetarian and vegetarian-friendly restaurants:

1) Good Burgers. This is where I go to when I am craving for a burger :) Though it is not a vegetarian    joint, they offer veggie patty :) A little pricey especially if you are a student BUT definitely worth it!

taken from the site above 

I've only tried their branch in Maginhawa Street, Quezon City because this is the most convenient to our place but they also have branches in Pasig and C5 road. Check this site for the exact address. 

2) Blissfull Belly. I happen to "live" in Katipunan ALL MY LIFE before i started working abroad :) When I say "live", I meant I spent my college life + 6 years working life there! However, I only "discovered" this vegetarian restaurant when I started working along Katipunan Avenue. This place is jam-packed mostly during lunch time because they already have regular customers :) 

MY Must-trys: Sisig and Carrot Cake! I remember this time when I brought their sisig in my workplace and asked my colleagues to try it without telling them first that it is vegetarian sisig. After a few minutes of eating with much gusto, they suddenly remembered that I do not eat meat and asked me if I went back to eating meat. They were so surprised when I told them that it is vegetarian! One point, hehe! :) They have the best dairy-free carrot cake too!!! That was actually the first time I started appreciating carrot cake! :) 

taken from here via google.com

3) Pipino Vegetarian Food (by Pino). This vegetarian restaurant is known for their creative dishes as well as pleasing-to-the-eyes interior :) I've eaten here a couple of times (given its location, hehe) and I must say that apart from their yummy food, the place also uplifts your mood instantly! Thanks to the very creative person behind it, Ms. Alessandra Lanot. I don't know her personally but I know some things about her because of her blog :)

MY Must-trys: (their very famous) Watermelon steak, (all flavors of) Ice Cream and Lemongrass, Ginger & Cucumber Cooler! 

taken during one of our visits :)

As always, I've only tried their branch in Teachers Village, Quezon City but I've heard that they opened a new branch in Jupiter Street, Makati a few months back :)

You may check their site for more info :)


4) Greens Vegetarian Cafe & Restaurant. This is one of the first vegetarian restaurants that I've been to (courtesy of course of my Tito Aries and Tita Tessa) :)  I must say that this restaurant was sort of a deal breaker for me! I suggest that if you have plans of bringing a non-vegetarian friend and introduce him/her to vegetarianism, this is the BEST place to be! The foods are NOT intimidating because they are patterned after the regular food that we know (examples are Relleno, Escabeche and Embutido among others). The place is also very relaxing because of the bountiful plants surrounding the place :) 

MY must-trys: Relleno, Barbecue skewer and Baklava. 

taken from the site above

You may like their page in facebook for more information. 


5) This is not a restaurant but a site that will give you the information of all the vegetarian/vegan restaurants ALL OVER THE WORLD. This is what I visited when I was having a hard time looking for a vegetarian restaurant in Jakarta, sad but true :( 

Presenting..... 

welcome page of happycow.net

Now, you can search for a veggie restaurant near your place! Just click http://www.happycow.net/

Lastly, allow me to share my before and after experiences and the frequently asked questions as a pescetarian :)

1) The most frequently asked question question is "Did you lose weight?". The answer is NO! I did not lose weight. Actually, not to discourage those who want to lose weight, I gained weight upon adopting the pescetarian diet. However, the weight that I gained was brought about by my love for RICE. Yes, I do eat too much rice. Ika nga nila e "karpintero" rice. I admit that this is still a continuing struggle for me, huhuhu.

2) So why then did I continue with this kind of diet if I keep on gaining weight? In my opinion, not everything is about WEIGHT. Yes, it matters but one should not be equating being healthy with being thin. I know some people who are thin but have bad health :( Exhibit A: You will be surprised to see a "thin" person trying to catch his/her breath after a few steps on the stairs! I am not saying that I am almost-like-an-athlete-I-can-do-full-marathon healthy but I am happy to say that with this kind of diet, I am still able to run, bike and do other physical activities :) So yes, for someone who is "picky" with food, I am actually healthy :)

3) I feel lighter. During my meat-eating days, I can almost feel my tummy bursting after eating too much. Consequently, I feel so sluggish! These days, though I feel full after eating I do not feel the sluggishness that I used to feel. How do I know that I am gaining weight? Not because I feel heavy but because my clothes are getting smaller!!! :D

4) Where do I go from here? 6 years ago, I wanted to be a VEGETARIAN. Meaning, no meat (including seafoods) at all! However, upon the advice of Tita Tessa (who has been a vegan for almost 2 decades now) I started with being a pescetarian. She told me that I can use this as a transition to being vegetarian because it will be very difficult for me to change overnight. Today, after 6 years, I am still a pescetarian, hehehe :) I want to slowly end my transition and ease into vegetarianism, hopefully soon (since Jakarta is not a vegetarian friendly city and I live on my own now, I have to be prepared with this).

5) Is it expensive? I am not going to lie and say that adopting this kind of diet is cheap. Just like anything that we give importance to, it comes with a price. But if you will think about your health as an investment, then it will be easier to accept. Let me just clarify that this kind of diet may or may not be expensive depending on one's lifestyle. Vegetarian restaurants in general are slightly more expensive than a "regular" restaurant so if you happen to eat out A LOT, it will really be expensive. BUT if you will manage to prepare your own meal at home, it will be way cheaper! Vegetables and fruits are definitely cheaper than beef, chicken and pork so please do the Math! :D

We are very fortunate that Philippines has A LOT of vegetarian and vegetarian-friendly restaurants so let us use it to our advantage! :)

Happy HEALTHY eating! :)

The wanderlust in me is shouting "I WANT THIS!!!!"

On the lower right side of my page are the "blogs that I read" . True to my words, I REALLY read these blogs especially during my downtime :) these blogs never fail to add positivity to my already positive-vibe full life. Naks! Hahaha!

A few minutes ago ( while roaming around SM San Pablo, I will post an entry about this feel good weekender place that we visited), I visited Patty Laurel's blog and saw this: SCRATCH MAP PHILIPPINES EDITION!!!

Please check out this site for more details!

I will definitely get one for myself (and maybe the world map too) :)

JUMPSHOTS: We failed but we were happy :)

Samal Island and Davao: Home of the BEST Pomelo! :)

Let me tell you my short backstory on Davao. This should have been my 2nd time to be in Davao if not for Ondoy last 2009. Back then, everything has been arranged for our Davao trip. When I say everything, I meant plane tickets (which were purchased early Feb of that year), hotel and even itinerary. What happened was I had to choose between the rescheduled (it was moved 1 week after because of the floods on the day of the test) LET (Licensure Exams for Teachers) and Davao trip. Since it was my permanency year that year (which means that I need to have my license to be on permanent status), I decided to skip the Davao trip. My only regret was that I missed Eauj's proposal to Joan which happened in Davao. Nevertheless, I knew that I made the right decision at that moment :)

Fast forward to 2012, when Alex and I were thinking of a place to visit with our respective families, I guess Davao was always at the back of my mind for me to decide that it's going to be Davao for us! :D 

So when Cebu Pacific had their 12-12-12 sale, I didn't think twice about booking flights for the 6 (3 from Alex's side and 3 from my side) of us to Davao :)

From the day that we've finally booked our plane tickets, I've been researching on the places to visit, things to do and hotels where  we can stay. This is a BIG thing for us because: 1) this is the first time that Alex's family and my family will be together in a trip, 2) this is the first time for my sister, Rea Mae, to ride a plane :D and 3) this is the first time that I am bringing my mother and sister in an out of town trip where I will pay for EVERYTHING :)  If you know me well, you can already imagine how planning for this trip takes up my time. But believe me when I say that I always consider planning trips as happy "problem". 

After all the planning and researching, it was so sad that only Alex can join us on the trip. His mom and sister were not able to join us since it is already the 2nd week of school and Dianne did not want to miss 4 days of school especially since she is on her 5th (graduating) year in her course. 

As always, let me share the photos that we were able to take in our trip (again, all the "behind the scenes" will be shared in a separate post :)

my HANDSOME boyfriend!!! Kilig to the bones! :D

we were laughing at this page from Smile (Cebu Pacific's inflight magazine) because this is Alex's full name also! :D 

When I asked my sister and mother if they wanted to stay in city proper or by the beach, they said that they prefer to stay by the beach. Therefore, I reserved  our 4 full days in Samal Island.

Manong Jun (Island Garden Resort in Pangubatan's driver) picked us up at the airport and when we woke up (we were all sleeping since our flight left manila at 3:45 am!) we were already near the resort in Samal Island :D

Welcome! Tuloy po kayo :)

These are the activities that we did while we were in Samal Island :)

we wake up to this view every morning! nice! 

proof that I've been munching on too much unhealthy junk! hihihi

the resort's one and only tree house! sweet , romantic and adventurous :) we did not get it though because of my mother, hehe :)

creative shot of my sister! admit it, she has the "eye"

My mother and sister doing their selfies! :D

they soak up the sun on Day 2

bangkeros on Day 1! :D

Our 1st couple shirt! These shirts were custom made in Palawan :) 

Night shot! First time to wear dress on a trip! Pardon the NOO! :D

And the highlight of our Samal Island stay would have to be scuba diving!! :D This is the first time for both Alex and Rea Mae while the 2nd time for me :)

Some creatures that we saw :)

we found Nemo!!!! :D

Oooops, peeking Nemo :D

Honestly though, the sea creatures were not as colorful and diverse as compared to what we saw in Coron (when we had snorkeling!) :( However, since it is the first time for Alex and Rea Mae, they had a great experience and are seriously considering to go back to Davao and get a diving license since Davao has the cheapest deals! :)

To conclude our Samal Island adventure, let me give my special awards for the trip *drum roll*

The forever nerbyosa award goes to....

ME!!!! Though it is already my 2nd time to dive, my nerbyos still got the worse of me AT THE BEGINNING, hehehe...Look at my nerbyos face! :p

The "kaldereta" award goes to...

ALEX!!! Bagay na bagay ang attire di ba? :) at magaling at hindi naman sya mukhang kabado
at smooth na smooth sa ilalim ng tubig BUT after the dive e eto na sya...

Ayun sya! natatakjpan ko! Dahil nagsusuka! Sinuka nya lahat ng kalderatang kinain nya nung lunch! Sabay sisi sa amin ng "kayo kasi e! hindi nyo inubos ang food nyo so ako ang umuubos lahat!" Hahahah :D

The rookie award goes to...

REA MAE!!! According to her instructor,s he was really GOOD! E kahit kailan naman e malakas
ang loob nya e :) At sabi nung assistant e kalahati lang daw ang nagamit nyang air sa tank! Wow!
hindi humihinga?! :D

Like what I've mentioned above, our plan was to stay in Samal Island the entire time! However, the youngest member of the delegation, hehehe, was already bored so we decided to go to Davao City proper on the 3rd day. These are our photos in Davao City :)

at the wharf in Samal Island going to Davao City proper

 After checking inn at our hotel in Davao and eating breakfast,we then proceeded to the "nearest" tourist attraction in the city :)

When you buy a ticket at the Crocodile Park, they will give you entrance stubs to 3 different places: Butterfly house, Park that show houses of different tribes (I forgot the name :p) and Crocodile Park :)

so who is THE boss?! :D

After visiting the places above and buying our pasalubong (fresh pomelo and assorted candies), we decided to proceed to SM Lanang and eat our lunch at KFC! :p

And bought some supplies...

ayos lang at matagal tagal pa naman kami babalik dito eh! :p

In our search for a good place to eat for dinner, the cab driver brought us here...

yummy sinigang soup :)

In the different parts of Pinas that I've been to, sinigang has a lot of variations! I guess it depends on the veggies available in the place :)

This trip is definitely one for the books!

PS: As I write this post, we've almost finished the box (with 7 pieces) of golden fruits pomelo that we bought! Davao has indeed the BEST pomelo! Woohoo! :)