Canyoneering at Badian, Cebu

Friday, September 29, 2017

Greetings everyone!

I am finally back and since it's not yet too late to share something 'summery', I'd like to share our recent adventure: Canyoneering at Badian, Cebu. I would really try to make this post as helpful as possible, in any case you'd like to go and take on the adventure yourself.

I wasn't really excited for this one, since I don't have any adventurous veins in me. Seriously though, my idea of a good time is practically lying down in bed all day. But since this was a company event and I wanted to bond with my co-workers, I didn't think twice about coming. Turns out, I had loads of fun!


At Carcar City Public Market.
The Journey. We left Cebu City around 5 am. The company provided our vehicle but if you're going to take the bus (from South Bus Terminal) it is 3 hours away and it would cost around Php120 per person. We arrived at Carcar City by 7 am and we bought lechon for breakfast. If you haven't tried it yet, I definitely recommend Carcar City's lechon and special chicharon. Super yummy. From there, it's around another hour of travel to finally reach the starting point.


The Tour Guide/Package. We found our tour guide online. Our package only cost us Php750/head. But this is because there were 26 of us. The larger the group, the cheaper the price. Normally, it would cost Php1000-Php2000 for smaller groups. The price would also depend on the inclusions. Some packages include the fare for the habal-habal ride (going to the jump off point), tourist fee (Php50/head for Filipinos and P100/head for foreigners), gear, snacks, 1 bottle of water and a hearty meal at the end of the trail. Better ask your tour guide about this so that you won't get surprised with additional charges.

3-5hrs Activity. We started the Canyoneering Activity at 10AM and finished around 3PM. We were a slow group of course. Partly because we were a large group so during queues for jumps or slides, smaller groups get to cut ahead of us. If you're going to do this, make sure you're well rested since it's rather long and tiring. The earliest you can start the activity is 6:00AM and the latest is 3:00PM. This is to make sure that you'll finish the activity with enough sunlight.

Orientation. Before we started, our tour guides gave a quick but thorough orientation. They taught us how to jump properly and about the do's and don't during the activity like always wearing your life vest and helmet, wear shoes, etc. If you forgot to bring shoes, like I did, you can rent one for Php50. Although I highly don't recommend this. Bring your own shoes if you can.
The First jump.
Jumps and Slides. Canyoneering at Badian is filled with lots of jumps and slides. ALOT. The first jump is one of the highest jumps in the trail. It appears after 5-10minutes in the course, and it is REQUIRED so
better prepare for that. Don't worry though, the next few jumps will be easy once you've conquered the first one. Kinda gets your adrenaline pumped. There are at least 3 high jumps through out the trail. The first jump is the only one that is required. Thank goodness for that right?




Fantasic Scenery.  If you love nature and enjoy scenic views, then you'd love the enchanting allure of view you'll witness as you go through the course. There are actually times when I almost can't believe that something like this exist and it is just right there before my eyes! The photo opportunities are endless, a GoPro would be helpful. If you don't have one, I believe you can rent one from your tour guide. Just inform them ahead of time of course. If you do have a GoPro, don't forget extra batteries. The trek may last up to 5 hours, your GoPro will not last long. Ours didn't even reach Kawasan Falls. :(

Barbeque Area. There's a barbeque area that's strategically located within the trail. You can select from a wide variety of products such as grilled hotdog, chicken barbeque, pork barbeque and even drinks. As we reached the Barbeque Area, we were truly hungry so we had to stop over for awhile to eat. You don't have to carry money with you, your tour guide can list your purchases for you and you can pay for the food through your tour guide at the end of the activity.

Our tour guides even have Instagram worthy photography skills!  They'll be happy to take your pictures for you. They'll even have a few concepts for the pictures as well. Part of their training probably. :D

Kawasan Falls. Kasawan Falls, another well-known tourist destination in the Cebu area, is the end point of the Canyoneering Activity. It is beautiful, although it had been too commercialized. There are cottages when you can stay, rest and eat. Our complementary lunch was served here as well. Our tour guides prepared chicken adobo, pork sinigang and pancit for us. I'm not sure if the food was really yummy or if I was just tired and hungry. We had no pictures here because our camera died prior to reaching this point. After lunch, we took a dip at the cool and refreshing water of the falls.

Have you tried this yet? If not, then I recommend that you take on the Canyoneering at Badian Challenge. Regardless whether you're an adventure junkie or prefer to be laidback, I'm sure you'll love and enjoy this experience.



OOTD: There's Always a First Time

Friday, September 22, 2017

Hello! This is my very first so I don't know what to expect. I just wanted to try and incorporate my style somehow in this blog. I'm no fashionista nor a model, but I thought this might be fun. So please excuse this photo.
I really like buying clothes from thrift shops or in local term, 'ukay-ukay'. Yes, probably 80% of my clothes are bought from there. It's hard to go ukay-ukay shopping, since you basically have to dig from a mountain of clothes (most of which are crap) just to find the good ones. But it is all worth it especially when you stumble upon great finds for a very very cheap price.

My top is an example of those great finds. I found it at an ukay-ukay pile priced at P25.00 and didn't hesitate to buy it right away. It is just my style and it is totally me. I think it makes me look powerful and classy. Plus, it's not tight so it doesn't show my belly fat (HAHA!). This one is definitely for keeps. It took awhile for me to find the right time to wear it though. With the weather here in the Philippines, I couldn't imagine wearing it out in the hot sun. It'd be too warm. Finally had the chance to wear it one cold rainy day. I just paired it up with my trusty black skirt and then it was church ready.

I would recommend you go and check out thrift shops, you just might find something that's totally a perfect fit for you.

P.S. I do hope to get better at this.

Have you tried shopping for thrifted items before? Did you find anything nice? 

Follow this blog on:





Dining at House of Lechon Cebu

Friday, September 15, 2017

Cebu City is known for its five-star resorts, historical sites, beautiful churches and of course, the best tasting lechon (suckling pig) in the Philippines. There is a wide selection of stores that offer their own take on Cebu's traditional lechon and if you're visiting Cebu, you might want to try them all.
Last weekend, I invited my high school friends to lunch. We intentionally wanted to eat someplace else but since they weren't open at the time, we opted to eat somewhere nearer.
We ate at House of Lechon, located very near Ayala Center Cebu. Although the place is very accessible, it can be hard to find since it is not located in a major road.

The place looks very nice.  Pleasant, clean, spacious and really comfortable. The interior design is high-end and trendy, but still with a Filipino touch though. I liked the entire feel of the restaurant.
We ordered 1 kilo of their Carcar Regular Lechon, 1 serving of Monggos, Grilled Tuna Belly, 3 rice platters and 1 pitcher of iced tea. We paid around P1500.00 for a meal that's good for seven (7) people, but rest assured our stomachs were close to exploding after eating.

Their lechon is fantastic. It might even be the best I've tasted so far. I liked it better than Zubuchon and CnT, both popular choices for lechon in Cebu. Although the skin is not as crispy as that in Zubuchon. I loved how they served it with 'tanglad' on the side. Tanglad is what truly makes lechon taste wonderful. Their rice platter is also served in a traditional Filipino rice pot which I think is a creative idea to serve rice. Monggos was really tasty as well. They also have a wide choice of Filipino dishes other than lechon. Their entire menu is shown below.

Taken from https://www.zomato.com/cebu/house-of-lechon-kamputhaw/
Overall, I enjoyed my dining experience at House of Lechon. The food was tasty and filling. The place is terrific. They also have friendly and helpful staff members. Price is affordable. At the end of the meal, we were all satisfied with the service we received. I would definitely recommend this restaurant for anyone wanting to have their lechon fix.

To end this post, here's a selfie of me and my friends with heavy stomachs.

Follow this blog on:



Unexpected Fun With 'Shuffle My Life'

Friday, September 8, 2017

Due to recent boredom and loads of free time, I dowloaded an application from the App Store. It's called 'Shuffle My Life'.

It had been posted on the popular site 'Reddit' and has gotten a lot of attention ever since. The original post says:

Hey, I’ve been busy working on my pride and joy/side-project for the last 4 months and I think it’ll really help you guys. It’s called Shuffle My Life, and here’s the idea:
Sometimes, weekends just go by in a blur of watching TV and playing video games, and you get to the end and you’re thinking ‘where did the last 2 days go?’ – this is my solution to that problem. The app will generate random activities for you to do based on where you are, weather conditions, etc. You earn points for completing each task, and the challenge is to complete as many as you can in a row without skipping, and get a week or month-streak going. It can become a competition between you and friends to get the highest score. You’ll find your weekend unfold in a kind of ‘Wario Ware’ fashion, darting from different activities to the next but experiencing a whole lot of cool new things if you stick with it! The philosophy is ‘the more you do, the better you get at handling any kind of situation’. Hope you like it!

Some features:
– 430+ tasks, more on the way
– Tasks appear depending on location, weather and the time of day
– Filter by your time and budget, plus categories
– Hide tasks you don’t want to see again
– Google Play Games integration

https://m.reddit.com/r/DecidingToBeBetter/comments/3gpnx0/android_tool_i_wrote_an_app_to_help_you_beat/?utm_source=mweb_redirect&compact=true

Basically, it tells you what to do by suggesting random activites that you can even filter. Tasks can range from 'Buy take out' to 'Sweep the hard floors in your house'. Suddenly, you will never run out of things to do. It's a fun way to add some spice in your life and make your boring routine exciting again. It also motivates you to stick with it because it does give reward points once you complete a task and bonus points if you go on a task streak.



The first task I received was to 'Write a Haiku.' I was excited to do so because I have never written one, ever. I scrambbled for the theme of the haiku and when I finally decided, the composition was another story. I thought and thought about it, and I came up with something I'm quite satisfied with.
Gratitude themed haiku.

So far, I have cleaned my room, listened to police radio, listened to classical music and rearranged my room, things I would never have done if not for this application. I highly recommend it especially if you're feeling that you're on a rut.

Follow this blog on:



A Once In A Lifetime Experience

Friday, September 1, 2017

Hello. I've been away for far too long. Seriously though, school. But now that I'm totally free for summer vacation, I'll get back and catch up with the tons of things that I have to blog about. First things first. The PAGEANT.

The last blog post I did was about the pageant I got forced to join. I didn't have much time to prepare since I was super busy. Didn't even go on a strict diet. This was because I wasn't getting any sleep and therefore compensated with eating. If I didn't, I would probably be terribly ill right now.

So here's how it went.
The Pictorial
 I honestly didn't like my picture. Haha. The pictorial was fun. I was an hour late for it since I still came from Davao City during that day. Didn't even shower. I know. EWWWW.




Store Exposures
We did do store exposures to promote restaurants all over the city. We got free food and it was a great bonding opportunity for the contestants as well. Enjoyed these. Although smiling while eating and being all conscious about the way you eat because of all the cameras is not really my thing, it was an experience.







Closed Door Interview
By far the hardest and most intimidating part of the competition. It was also 25% of our whole score. This is what we truly prepared for. We spent nights conversing with a few of the interview experts in our school who were willing to help us. They went over some dos and donts during the interview. We even practiced as if it was the real thing. We were also asked some possible questions so that we'd be prepared if ever it was asked during the interview.

So we had to come in a closed room. There was a panel there. A psychologist, two nuns, a sociologist and a doctor of philosophy. It was intimidating. All aspects of your personality was questioned and it felt somewhat like I was in a thesis defense, except that I was defending my identity. A true test of individuality, intelligence and character. Some of the contestants broke down and cried. So proud I got it over with. I will do a separate blog post about this. Probably.

Introduction
This was done the night before the talent show. We were introduced for the first time as Official Hiyas 2014 candidates. We wore our college shirts to represent our college and just walked. My walk made headlines though. I stood out. I was the only one without any experience. Compared to them, I was such a pageant noob. Needless to say, when it comes to the catwalk, I sucked. I love how my dress only cost Php50.00. Ukay queen is still present for the pageant.






Talent Show
The talent portion of the pageant composed another 25% of our total score. It was something you had to prepare for. I didn't prepare much though. Just took my violin and played the song "I Believe I Can Fly". Not even a very hard song to play on the violin but it was a choice that I made to have a 'relevance to the theme'. The theme was about success so I found the song appropriate. I am a very rusty violinist. Haven't played for the longest time. It was just right that I took on an easy piece. I just kept the performance simple, no gimmicks to entertain the public. Everyone sang along and it was beautiful. I left the stage happy and completely satisfied with my performance.


Pageant Night

This was the pageant proper. It had three parts, festival attire, sports attire and finally the Filipiniana attire. It was all walk and then talk. I was not excited at all. It was all going to be over soon.
 

Then, the awarding part came. I didn't get any of the pageanty awards. I didn't expect to. My walk was terrible. Haha. I wasn't presentable at all. But I did bag the two major awards. The Best in Closed Door Interview (which I'm very proud of) and the Best in Talent Award. Remember how these two are the comprised the biggest percentage of our total score? And I got them both. I was so proud of myself at that moment. None of the other award matter for me at the moment. Nor did what my actual place would be. I got these awards and that was more than enough for me. 
It was time for the top five to be announced. Having the two major awards, I was confident I'd be in. In I was. I was second to be called. I was glad Donna, the other contestant from our college got in as well. 

It was then time for the final question and answer. I got so thrown because the organizers told us that they'd be reading the question twice: in English and Filipino. They just read it in Filipino. I'm not extremely keen on understanding questions in Filipino. I answered in English. It's inappropriate but I couldn't risk it. I'm more fluent in English. I couldn't remember the question properly but it asked us to choose a color that would embody us. I chose the green. I just remember saying "I choose the color green. It is the color of life, and where there is life, there is growth, when there is growth, there is progress and with progress comes success." I will never forget those words. Hahaha. 

Final Moments
Then it came to the last minutes of the pageant, the announcement of winners. The 4th runner up got called. Candidate number 6. The 3rd runner up got called. Candidate number 7. The final three were me, Donna and Valerie. The three of us are really good friends. Especially since Donna and I are from the same college. 2nd runner up got called. Candidate number 3. And before we knew it, it was only me and Donna left on the stage. Both from the College of Engineering and Technology. We were overwhelmed at the time. So was the CET Foxes who were watching. It didn't matter who won anymore. The winner was from us. Either way, it's a success. 
and the winner waaaaasssssssss..... candidate number 8. Donna won the competition. I hugged her and the crowd went wild. So happy for the foxes. We finally won the pageant again. After many years. I was so happy for Donna and for myself too. Being the first runner up for the first and last pageant that I'll ever join was such an achievement in itself. I couldn't complain really. She also deserved it. 
PICTURE HERE. PICTURE THERE. PICTURE EVERYWHERE. 

Overall, it was a pleasant experience. Although I don't see myself doing it again, like EVER. I was not made for pageants. I'll stick to quizbowls next time. I thank my friends and family for the support. I would have never gotten through Hiyas 2014 without them. 

If you read this lengthy post, thank you very much. Haha. 


Veronica Decides to Blog