Goodbye 2011.

2011. This is my fourth attempt to blog about EVERYTHING I went through this year. This is my least favorite year in all of my existence. I reached breaking point and the only thing I look forward to is the end of each month. But then again, I would realize that after an end is the beginning of a new month. And the cycle would continue again. Every day, I wish I could fast forward to 2012 because I became paranoid that if the year continued, the streak of unfortunate events would go on and on. I lost everything just when I was starting to get 'comfortable.' I mean EVERYTHING. I got hurt, mad, almost gave up.

I learned to be wiser, stronger, keep calm, and the biggest lesson of all: keep the FAITH. As long as you have faith, you will understand that nothing is too much to take, you will have a bigger threshold for bad vibes, and have powerful strength to soldier on. Believe in God's higher purpose and leave everything up to Him. I owe a LOT to him and after all the trials I went through, I am still standing.

Time's up, 2011. You can leave now. Hello, 2012. I have a good feeling about you. <3

Buwelo.

Slow down to speed up. Sink to swim. Fall down to get up. I'm looking forward to the day when I am ready to pick up where I left off. For now, I need to be low key. Buwelo muna.

breathe

As the Michelle Branch song goes, "Everything is alright if I just breathe." On my way to work this morning, I was wondering how many songs were written about taking a step back and breathing. I checked my iPod and I have 6 songs:

• "Breathe" - Michelle Branch
• "Breathe" - Faith Hill
• "Breathe (2AM)- Anna Nalick
• "Breathe Again" - Sara Bareilles
• "Breathing"- Lifehouse
• "Breathing Underwater"- Marie Digby

Each song has a different meaning, especially Lifehouse and Faith Hill's songs but the other 4 all say that when it gets too much to take, when you reach that thin line between giving up or seeing how much more you can take, breathe. You'd be surprised at how much your mind would get clearer and make more rational decisions.

Breathing is also a core yogic principle that got me drawn to the practice. See, when you attend your first-ever yoga class, the instructor will always teach you to breathe. Breathing is more important rather than perfecting the poses or being flexible. One of my instructors would always say that "As long as you are breathing, you are doing yoga. True practice begins outside the mat." I live by this principle, and I think it has helped me get through my toughest moments.

2011 is the worst year of my life, and that's an understatement. I wake up each day wishing it was a different day because I am not used to living this life. There's three more months left in the year and honestly, I am expecting the worst. I know that if I get my hopes up, I will prolly set myself up for even more disappointment. Each time I talk to God, I pray for more strength because I don't think these problems would go away anytime soon. I don't ever want to reach the point where I won't care about anything anymore. Now I can't think of any quick, logical solution but to BREATHE and have faith. 

yep. it's everything.

"Chemistry. If you have chemistry, then you only need one thing. TIMING."

- Robyn, How I Met Your Mother

Cebu-Bohol Vacation Part 3

The next morning, we slept in and woke up in time for the trip to Alona Beach. We didn't visit Virgin Island or go island hopping because we were pressed for time and because of the ferry experience, tried to stay away from anything sea-related- so to speak. Wouldn't you love waking up to this view?

Bohol Wonderlagoon pool

saw this hammock right outside the room

Good morning, Bohol! (Achi Helen and me)

After breakfast, a van dropped us off to Alona Beach which was only 10 minutes away from the resort. The strip reminded me of Boracay but with less people.

sand is also similar to Boracay, except less powder-y

perfect coconut tree with shadow post!

The water still didn't seem too safe to swim in so we spent time at one of the restaurants to eat peanut kisses and hang out. I ordered mango shake and they had a couple of beers by the beach.

saw this cute bench

We still had an hour or two before checkout and the resort's mini lagoon was all ours. (We went night swimming the night before.) We loved the poolside bar so all our photo-ops.

planking with Achi Cha!

Because there were no people around, I couldn't resist doing planking shots by the pool so I'll show you one! (But I hope I don't get in trouble for posting this planking pic. Hahaha!)

Before lunch, we checked out and had lunch before heading to the ferry back to Cebu. Thankfully, there were no more waves, no more barfing and the ride back was 10x smoother and we all fell asleep for 2 hours.

We were all so tired but still managed to continue the food tripping. We had dinner a Co-Jordan, which was similar to dampa but with a fishing village. We ate fresh crabs and shrimp with our hands. Yummy! One of the best things about Cebu is the yummy, cheap food at almost every corner.

Then we had coffee at La Marea in IT Park.  I ordered a caramel machiatto and they served the espresso and milk separately. We also had brownie cream pies, cheesecake which tasted good too.

It was 11PM but we wanted to maximize the vacation so we went to Thai Boran for a foot massage. The foot  massage is only P199 but it's one of the best! We had the whole room to ourselves which was filled with reclining lazyboy sofas, relaxing music plus a lavender-minty smell. They also call the service "foot massage" but it's like a semi-full body massage. They massage your hands, back, neck and head  They give you hot towels and tea at the end of the massage. Hay, so relaxing!

We went back to my cousin's house that night very relaxed and almost ready to say goodbye to Cebu the next day.

Bohol Bee Farm

My most awaited part of the trip: Bohol Bee Farm!!! After reading about it online and recommendations from 4/5 friends who went to Bohol recently, I am so glad this became part of our itinerary.

Bohol Bee Farm is an organic farm that is "a sanctuary hidden from the world." 

It's roughly 20 minutes away from our hotel but the extra travel time, not to mention transportation fee, was well worth it. The place is perfect for R & R because you'll really feel close to nature. The sign from their Buzzz cafe says "Live Well. Laugh Often. Love Much," -a good reminder for me these days and why I actually went on this vacation.

We went inside the store to check out their products for sale and we saw a lot or spreads, honey, wine, cupcakes, coffee, tea, sugar, and ice cream to name a few. I bought wild honey bottles for my mom, pesto spreads, and lemongrass tea while my cousins got coconut wine. (They said it was yummy). They offer free taste of almost all their food too.

organic sandwich spreads

honey

tea

I loved this separate room inside the store so my cousin took a picture while I was on the phone with my mom.

After shopping, we went to their restaurant. On the way there, you'd pass by their living room and indoor pool. They also had a hotel room but we didn't get to see the inside.

indoor pool

our only group pic in Bohol!

They offered different kinds of food and even a buffet that costed P420 per pax but you have to be at least 11 in the group to avail. We chose the special set which consisted of basically the same items on the menu but only one serving. Check out all these delicious, healthy food!

hungry family haha

mango, pesto and honey spreads. (Pesto is my fave! I brought a bottle home.)

cassava chips + pesto sauce

Bread for starters

seafood lasagna

salad with real petals + balsamic dressing

soy glazed chicken, ribs and seafood soup

grilled blue marlin

brown rice with margarine

mango + malunggay ice cream

We drank iced lemongrass juice with honey which was not in the pictures. It was refreshing and tasted like salabat (ginger tea) but milder. We weren't able to finish all the food so we took it back to the hotel for breakfast the next day. I tried everything including the fish and veggies which is a BIG achievement for me! Afterwards, we went back to the hotel and went to bed happy and healthy. I'm not a big fan of healthy and organic places but trust me, Bohol Bee Farm is a very very relaxing and nice way to detoxify and wash all the stress away.

Cebu- Bohol Vacation Part 2

Starting the morning early, we all went to the port to secure tickets to Bohol since we all anticipated the high volume of people spending the long weekend there. We got tickets at around 6AM and left Cebu at 8:30. I also realized that the Cebu-Bantayan route is even more exhausting because it's 5 hours away from the city. Bohol is the ideal choice for beach bumming + countryside tour.

The 2-hr Supercat ferry experience was the choppiest, scariest ferry ride my whole life. There was a typhoon on that day so that could be the culprit. Good thing they warned us about the HUGE waves beforehand so I was able to take Bonamine 3 minutes into the ferry ride. We all took meds but we didn't expect it to be that bumpy. It felt like being on Anchor's Away (a ride at Enchanted Kingdom) for two hours! At first, the kids were even shouting and cheering because of the waves but half hour into the ferry ride, it was a completely different story.

They started handing out motion discomfort/ barf bags around and the crew couldn't even walk straight so they had to crawl to reach the seats in front. My iPod saved my life. Whenever I started to feel sick, I would crank up the volume and look out the window to have a view of the water. I didn't want to throw up! My sister, who was sitting beside me, was also listening to her iPod in full volume but started crying because she was on the verge of throwing up. (Hahaha!) Then my cousin who's a pediatrician already started throwing up after an hour, followed by my other cousin, who's a nurse. I  didn't want to panic so I closed my eyes and meditated (as in slow, breaths like in yoga) and it was somewhat effective, but in between music tracks of my iPod, you could hear barfing sounds around and then the smell has gotten worse. I finished an entire Mentos pack because I was really determined that I wasn't going to throw up. I kept looking at my watch but it seemed like time wasn't moving either!

When the captain announced we were already docking, I wanted to scream for joy. By the time we got off the ferry, the crew informed us that the sea is usually calm. It just happened that there was a storm and it was the strong breeze that caused the hardcore waves. Other passengers looked pale and terrible and they also said it was one of the worst experiences ever. I'm so proud I survived without throwing up and for sure, this is a ferry ride experience to remember for the rest of our lives! Like my cousin said, "Through seasickness and in health, till barf do us part."

We hired a van to tour us around for P2500. The van can fit around 10 people so it's cheaper if you're a big group. The first spot we visited in Bohol was the famous Loboc River Cruise in time for the lunch buffet. We paid P450 each and they served veggies, chicken, pansit, fish, etc. Nothing special, except for the relaxing view of the Loboc River and being serenaded during the lunch. I'm sure it would be a romantic place for couples especially if you cruise at night. However, we didn't enjoy too much because we were all still seasick. :-S

After lunch, we headed to the Philippine Tarsier Conservation Center. Flash photography and making too much noise isn't allowed inside the center. Visitors are no longer allowed to touch them too. We were told that tarsiers are nocturnal "Pero meron namang mga naka-day shift!" Hahaha! There were a very few that were on top of the trees because I guess most of them are in cages sleeping.

The next stop was the man-made forest which was situated in the middle of a highway. Another destination one shouldn't miss in Bohol because it is beautiful. You can actually feel the cool breeze en route to the forest and even smell fresh air- nature at its best.

Then we climbed the picturesque Chocolate Hills. The stairs are worth it because it felt like being inside a postcard, so beautiful. It was green rather than brown when we went there.

Bohol is also famous for a lot of churches including Baclayon Church, which is the oldest coral sandstone church still standing. It's also where the face of the famous Padre Pio appeared in one of the pillars. The church had a very strict dress code and because I was wearing an uber short dress and shorts, they gave us shawls to cover the legs and the back while inside the church. I found it slightly eerie, especially when I imagine all the old friars holding masses years ago. By the time we reached the confession box, I didn't want to take pictures anymore because I started having goosebumps all over. (and not the good kind!) There was also a museum that said "You've never been to Baclayon if you didn't go the museum." but there was an entrance fee and we were pressed for time. After whispering prayers and lighting candles outside, we went to the next stop: the Xotic Zoo with the giant python.

Two shawls for the back and legs.

Outside the church

The zoo was a waste of time for me. There were ostriches, iguanas, the giant python and other exotic pets but I wasn't really interested. I read on a forum though, that it's the cheapest place to get peanut kisses so we hoarded 10 packs. Hahaha! They weren't lying though. We checked other stores and the prices were double or triple so we got a good deal.

With only two hours of sleep, we were so tired and caught naps in-between tourist spots (as in lahat tulog!) so we went to the last tourist spot for the countryside tour: the Blood Compact Monument. We took pictures quickly, and went to our hotel: the Bohol Wonder Lagoon Resort.

It was all our first time to stay in the hotel-resort and were pleasantly surprised with the room and the service. Their pool also had a bar which I found pretty cool and the room was huge. We were 6 people inside the room and we only had to request for an extra mattress to be able to sleep comfortably.

Each room had a different line from a poem or song. Ours was "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost. Reminded me so much of high school! :)

 We were also famished so we decided to order merienda even if dinner was an hour away. Being a Korean-owned resort, they served Korean noodles with Kim Chi plus complimentary barley. I loved their noodles! Spicy but really yummy.

While waiting for the van to take us to Bohol Bee Farm, we all went night swimming first. The next post will obviously be about Bohol Bee Farm and you'll know why it's my favorite part of the trip! After dinner, we were dead tired so we all slept 10 glorious, restful hours of sleep.