Trip to Manila

It's been a tradition of me and my housemates to meet at least once a year to visit some places. This year, we decided to have a Manila Trip. We did it during the Independence day. Zetta and I were having breakfast when I saw a map in the Young Star page of the Inquirer. We decided to use it in our adventure.

We went to the National Museum. There's no entrance fee that day. Yay! 

Our next stop was the Fort Santiago. We hired a pedicab driver to tour us around. In fairness, they know the history of the place. The driver also served as our tour guide.

The buildings gave us a European feel.

We also visited some churches like Manila Cathedral

and San Agustin Church

We ended our day by eating these ice creams from Big Scoop at Calle Escolta. 

Since it's Independence Day, we dropped by the Rizal Monument.

Trip to Mt. Batulao

This is not the usual travel blog. 

I don't think I can give you much advice about what to bring or what activities to do. I just write here to share my experience. I chose to make this blog personal. 

It's been a year since I climbed a mountain. I've been very busy with my career and of course with my master's degree. Whenever I have the opportunity for these kind of adventures, I eagerly grab them! :)

I cant remember the exact date of this hike but I know that it was my last day of second semester 2015. I was so tired of making my final papers for Philo Ed and my research paper for Psycho-Socio-Linguistics. I also had my final exam on Intro to Linguistics that day.

My brother texted me about his plan on hiking to Mt. Batulao. He's really problematic because my parents didn't allow him to go with his friends. As a "kind" sister (HAHAHA), I persuaded my parents to allow him provided that I'll go with Karlo.

I was in Manila that time. I think I arrived at Cavite around 7pm. I had dinner and hurriedly pack my things for the hike. I felt a rush because it's literally last minute for me!

I met my brother's friends and we ride a bus to Batangas. I think the fare from Robinson Dasma to Batulao is around 60php.

We decided to have a night hike. We paid 400 to a guide from the village near the mountain. I think it was around 11pm when we decided to sleep. I wasn't informed that nobody brought a tent! We just used some blankets and slept on the ground. I think we were halfway near the peak. 

We started hiking 5am to witness the sunrise at the peak of the mountain. It was all worth it. 

Trip to Westhill International School

"Work. Save. Travel."

I remembered posting it as my status in Facebook a year ago. I always wanted to visit different places. I can't to do it without money to pay for the food, fare and accommodations so I decided to search for a school who can support my passion and of course who can pay me well. :)

It's been a year since I started working at Westhill International School. I never really regret choosing to work in an international school over the all girls school and the catholic school who hired me.

Why work in Westhill International School?

1. The teachers and staff here are good people. Some teachers are born again Christians of different denominations, some are Catholics. We respect each others religion. I'm happy that we have morning devotions every day from 7:30 to 8am. It is lead by a foreign Pastor. It's really good to start the day with some singing of praise and worship songs and some word of God.

Westhill International School Faculty and Administrators

2. The students are very lovable. They may have different nationalities but I can see than they can work well with each other.  There is indeed a unity in diversity. All of them speaks English most of the time except in their Filipino subject. They also know how to speak French. I often join my students in their French class. (Free French lessons! LOL) 

My 5th grade students wearing their scouting uniform

Philippine National Dance Day Celebration

3. The facilities are commendable. All of the classrooms and laboratories are air-conditioned. The restrooms are always clean. The cleaning staff make sure that the surroundings are clean. Oh by the way, there are CCTV's all over the place. Each classroom has two CCTV's. The cafeteria, and even the hallways have CCTV's too.

Every classroom uses an interactive board. :)

4. The parents are friendly. I rarely encounter complains. The parent-teacher relationship is good because the teachers contact the parents immediately if there is a concern about their child. The parents also participate in school activities like the sports fest.

5. I'm very comfortable here. It may be thirty minutes away from home but I learned how to enjoy reading a book while on trip. I also enjoy making cool presentations for the students because we use the interactive boards in class. As for the lesson plans, the teachers are required to be in school during summer to finish our lesson plans for the whole school year. 

Before the school year ends, the teachers were asked to pass a letter of intent if we are staying or leaving. I didn't think twice. I really want to stay here. I realized that I'm getting paid to do what I really love to do.

5 Things You’ll See Inside A Teacher’s Bag

How would you find a girl who teaches? You’ll know she does because she always carries supersized bags.

1. Laptop

She has to carry her laptop every day with all the creative presentations for her kids. Yes, she sleeps late because she needs to prepare her lesson plan and all the visual aids for her classes. This applies to the teachers who do not have their own desktop in the classroom.

2. Flash Drive

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She’s always ready. Just in case her laptop malfunctions, she has the back up of all the presentations, lesson plans and class records. Her flash drive is full of icebreakers, full of funny videos, and activities that will surely get the students attention.

3. Planner/Notepad

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If she’s very organized, she keeps a planner that she updates everyday about her deadlines (grades, exams, narratives). However, if she’s really busy, there will always be a notepad or a sheet of paper with “Things to do” in it. Her activities never run out.

4. School Supplies

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She may forget her makeup kit, but she’ll always have her pencil case with colorful pens in it. She always brings her cute grading stamps, sticky notes and all the stuff for the kids’ projects. Most of the time, she takes home some test papers inside her bag that she can’t even check at home because she’s too tired to work.

5. Water bottle

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Mugs are overrated. Almost all of the teachers would say that they receive a dozen of mugs from their students every year. I think water bottles are necessity for teachers. She gives all of her effort during discussion. She uses different voices in telling a story. She exclaims when she’s happy. She sometimes yells to the naughty kids. A water bottle is something that would really help her survive throughout the day.

Trip to Mt. Makiling

I wrote this post in my tumblr blog two years ago. ;)

If life was easy, where would all the adventures be?

Mt. Makiling hiking adventure! :)

Climbing a mountain was an item in my bucket list. It was a lifetime achievement for me – an experience that I will cherish. It made me glad that once in my life I got to experience reaching the peak of a mountain.

I was excited when I learned that our class will be going to Peak 2 of Mt. Makiling. I went hiking at Mt. Makiling last summer, but I only reached the Mud Springs.

It was a requirement in NASC 10. I quite enjoyed it. I never thought hiking could be that fun. This semester, I took up SFFG 111 and got surprised when I saw its course outline. Looks like I’ve another shot at reaching this infamous mountain’s peak. 

The call time was 5:30am. I’m a morning person so I didn’t have any trouble waking up early. After all, I’m used to such call times. But I guess my friends weren’t. I had to wait up for them.

As soon as I woke up, I immediately sent a text message to my classmates Czinni, Aislynn, Sittie, Nash and Jireh. They’re also my orgmates.  That’s why I’m much closer to them compared to my other classmates. 

At the first few stations, I felt it was easy climbing the mountain. The pathway was wide and wasn’t that rough. After a few hours of walking, I felt my feet becoming weary. It didn’t bother me much so I just kept on walking. A couple of hours more and I soon realized that everything’s becoming steeper – and also way muddier if you ask me. It started to become exhausting. We were fighting against gravity. Our own weight was our enemy. Lucky I had Aesen along. He carried our bag, which had all our stuff in it. Whenever I got thirsty, he’d offer me one of the big water bottles we bought at 7 11. I am blessed, indeed!

The walk may have taken a long time but we had limatiks to keep us company. Every 15 minutes someone would scream because hordes of these tiny minions would stick up to their legs and necks. I personally found it very entertaining. I don’t get it why my fellow hikers found these little things scary and disgusting. Yep, it may require quite an effort to jiggle them off, but the thing is when it all comes down to it, they’re just harmless freaks of nature.

Amidst all these tiring physical effort, I still managed to notice and observe the different kinds of species on our way. Mt. Makiling is a diverse mountain indeed. I took pictures of the plants and insects that were new to me. I couldn’t help myself; I wrote a blog about it.

           I commend the foresters and forest guards in charge of conserving and governing the forest. As our trek guide said, the trek was now improved. The Mt. Makiling is well taken care of.

            I’m glad that I took SFFG 111 as a technical subject. I’ll be able to apply the things I learned here in writing feature articles and producing audio visual materials. I would really recommend it to my org mates.

            Of all the course activities I’ve experienced, hiking at Mt Makiling is the best. I’m glad that my boyfriend and I celebrated our fourth month nature tripping. J

Trip to Hundred Islands, Pangasinan

Okay, this blog post is kinda outdated. I've been to Pangasinan last May 2014. And this is my story. :)

It's been five years since our last family out of town trip. Our vacations every summer stopped when mom got pregnant. Since our baby girl is now ready for a long drive, we're now ready to have vacations every summer. Yay!

We rented a van from UV express with a driver so that we can all enjoy the trip. Dad can't drive for long hours. (signs of aging) hahaha! :)

We left Dasma at around 8pm and we arrived there at 5am. We stayed in my mom's high school friend, sister Emily.

I still can't believe that the high school friend of my mom became a nun. LOL.

Here's a picture of us before we rode a boat to the islands. I don't look like I'm the eldest here. ;)

You can have your "photo op" in the tourism office. They'll ask you to pay for the entrance fee, which is very cheap. I think it's less than 50 pesos.

 
My brother and I enjoyed the boat ride. We were able to take lots of "couple" pictures. :))

I met this guy who really looks like Apl de Ap. He calls himself Buko de Ap because he sells buko juice in one of the islands.  

Here's another "couple" picture of us. Oh how I wish I brought my boyfriend there. Oh wait, I don't have a boyfriend. HAHAHA!

We saw an island with a secret cliff. Hey, It's my first time to jump off the cliff!

We also went to an island where there's a replica of Dyesebel. That's the setting of the first Dyesebel movie.

I love the cave adventures. And oh, some bats are visible in the caves.

My siblings and I really enjoyed the island hopping... 

...and the photo shoot! (Thanks mom! haha)

This little girl is the happiest. :)

I'm ending this post with a family picture. <3