Tagaytay

Tagaytay is just 45 minutes from home so it's a great place to go to for a quick whole-day getaway.

We brought my sister and aunt to Tagaytay last weekend. We left at around 8 in the morning and had time to grab some breakfast at McDonald's SLEX. We arrived at our first stop - Sonya's Garden at past ten in the morning. We went around a bit and got some goodies in the country store and spa shop. I got a takatak -- wood chime that sounds like the street vendor's takatak box. I've yet to hear it takatak though since it hasn't been windy the past few days.

Lily in her pond?

Next stop was supposed to be the Flower Farm, but it was closed so we headed to Leslie's Restaurant for lunch. The bulalo was absolutely delightful! It was exactly how my Dad cooks bulalo. I think I'm going to be just like Markku who raves about Leslie's bulala everytime he gets a chance. I want bulalo!

Beef bulalo... the meat's hiding under the veggies.

Our trip wouldn't be complete without dropping by Starbucks and taking photos of the Taal Volcano. It was a gloomy day, but we were lucky the sun peeked through the clouds after we got some fraps.

For pasalubong shopping, we went to Mahogany Market. My aunt went crazy over fruits and I went crazy over plants and flowers. I have been toiling over my garden the past few months, trying to overcome my very brown thumb. I've admittedly killed a few plants already, experienced pesticide poisoning, but I'm keen to become a green thumbed gardener. And to show my commitment, I've actually started a new blog on gardening -- Gardening for Noobs. My Mom has just been rolling her eyes at my efforts, but she's been a great mentor, and she's my plant emergency room/hospital hehehe. 

One day I will have my own plantation!

I hope to go back before the year ends! =)

Flower Feast

Went to Sonya's Garden last weekend with my family. Just wanted to share some lovely snaps.

Another Second of Fame

I was seen on TV Patrol Soccksargen last December 11, 2010 because Blogfest Soccksargen got featured!

Christmas 2.0

Saw my friend, Blogie, share this on FB. Miguel and I totally enjoyed watching it.

The Duhat Tree Summer

I am writing this post to annoy my favorite cousin, Tina.

This is a story about an unforgettable summer, 20 summers ago.

In our clan our parents partnered us with a cousin -- someone who's about the same age and sex. So there was my Ate and Ate Tess, Kuya Koko and my Kuya, Ate Joanne and Ate Angela, Ate Jolyn and Ate Lindy etc. and then me and Tina. Tina lived with my parents when she was baby and my Tito Tony and Tita Josie only managed to get her back when I was born. So it was but natural for us to be "partnered" and she's been a partner in crime eversince.

Tina and I are complete opposites. Beside Tina, I'm the quiet, fair and thin one. Beside me, Tina's the talkative, loud and chubby one. We both always got in trouble -- something I usually tried to prevent, but we still always did. We both had a kid at the age of 18. She's got three now, I only have one. Well, we always have a crazy time and always have a special gift for each other during Christmas even though we don't get to spend time together anymore.

Tina and I spent a summer at Shell Tabangao, Batangas where my sister worked. We were ten years old and were left to our our devices the whole day. My sister, ever the OC and planner, would leave us a list of tasks every single day on the fridge. After completing the tasks we'd go out and play and attend our Red Cross swimming/life saving classes. And every day we'd scour around the beautiful golf course and make up stories.

One hot summer day, Tina and I with my sister and some of the other Shell engineers went around the golf course and came upon a Duhat tree. The tree was full of fruits so we started picking them. Tina and I were both short (at least I grew hehe) during that time and she insisted on going up the tree. I warned her that the bark didn't look sturdy, but ever the pasaway she got up the tree to pick some fruits.

And then I heard a cracking noise and saw Tina fall from the tree. My sister and her colleagues rushed to her side, did first aid and brought her to the hospital. My sister left me under the care of Lito (now Fr. Lito, a Jesuit priest in NY) who I fondly call "poodle" (he was balbon!) and I ended up spending one night in the guys dormitory.

Tina and me during that fateful duhat tree summer.

So that was the summer I learned about being cautious. My cousin Tina has ever since used that incident as an excuse for her pango nose. Crazy as ever, I'm sure I'll get a beating for this on our Christmas reunion.

**I miss my bangs!

Blogfest Soccksargen, Experiencing the Funnest Bloggers in Mindanao

I couldn't say no to Avel when he invited me to be a speaker at the 2010 Blogfest Soccksargen. I love these guys and share their passion for blogging. I am after all an adopted daughter of the Soccksargen bloggers group since they all witnessed Jay's marriage proposal last year (he practiced on Avel and 2008 Miss GenSan Romarie). (And I still want to live in Mindanao!).

I took an early morning flight to GenSan last Saturday and bumped into Jay and Bobby at the airport -- two other speakers for the event. We proceeded to East Asia Royale Hotel and hung out for a bit. I was hungry and dragged Andrew to have late breakfast with me. We went back to the event and caught the other half of my former professor's talk (Danny Arao) on "Journalism Ethics for Bloggers" and I realized I did learn a lot from Danny when I was a student.

Soccksargen bloggers are indeed the funnest I've encountered in the Philippine blogosphere. Lead by brothers, Avel and Orman, things really go crazy when they are around. Here's a photo of bloggers enjoying Orman's afternoon energizer exercise which he did just before my talk.

I think I must have crashed everyone's brain after my talk since Avel's orders was for me to talk Google products that may help the bloggers. And because I am masunurin, I complied. I do hope though that they would remember everything I mentioned since they did really well with my pop quiz. Haha.

I managed to do a lot in GenSan in 24 hours. I actually managed to squeeze in some spa time, merienda at Firenzo Deli with Eric and dinner with Drew at Little Dubai. AND attended the Soxbloggers Christmas party and sashimi night. It was definitely an unforgettable and fun party (and the only Christmas party I am likely to attend this season). A magic show was ongoing when I arrived at the party and I was awed at the magician's skill (they are going to give you a run for your money Marcelle!).

The second magic act was a "comedy magic act" and the magician got someone from the audience to help him -- Ria and I volunteered Eric. It was really hilarious and I'm not sure who among the Blogfest speakers laughed the loudest. Take a look at Eric and let your imagination run wild (see photo below).

And here's Avel and Orman playing Pinoy Henyo.

I was sad to leave GenSan. I missed another tour, but I had to go because of duties for the 2010 Philippine Blog Awards. Anyway, Soxbloggers are truly the funnest in Mindanao and I hope I'd be able to join them again next year! Thank you so much guys!

P.S. You should be proud of me, I was the only speaker who managed to bring home the bottle of Sinamak. I transferred it to 2 small water bottles and wrapped it in 3 plastic bags. Hehehehe.

At the 2010 Philippine Blog Awards

It's truly amazing how blogging has evolved in the past few years. And this year I saw for myself the community grow -- in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao and I managed to attend in all three legs of the 2010 Philippine Blog Awards (and all the summits too!).

I brought my sister with me to the awards night last night so she'd see and meet all of my crazy blogger friends. My blog has been part of how I update my family and friends about my whereabouts since most of my loved ones don't live here in Manila anymore, so I was pretty pleased to introduce my sister to everyone we bumped into last night. (Friends, now you know how I'm going to look like when I'm a golden girl already haha).

I knew the organizers of the 2010 Philippine Blog Awards wanted a simple event. They really did an awesome job and I knew things were going to be great when Gabe (Mercado) came out in his pajamas and stuffed bedroom sleepers (if you didn't know, Gabe has been vlogging at BagongGising.com since last year). Great job Gabe (I couldn't help but remember how much fun we had during our wedding reception last year because of him and Mhel).

If you are a blogger, you should read Manolo's keynote speech. It's here.

So Coy did a little joke on me and Gail. We both thought that we were just going to literally hand out the trophies. Just before the event started we were handed our scripts and briefed that we were going to be announcing winners. Haha!

My "Nobody reads my blog :( " was given to me by Orman during the Soxbloggers Christmas party. I immediately loved it and told him I was going to wear it during the Philippine Blog Awards. I also got my boys their own blog shirts. Miguel's "More people have read this shirt than your blog" was a big hit and Jay's "I blog and Plurk a lot" also got noticed. Orman said he'll set up a FB page for it so whoever wants to order can just sign up there.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2010 Philippine Blog Awards. Here's the list of winners -

MAIN AWARDS

Best Blog in Advocacy Category – Web Safety Philippines by Sonnie Santos
Best Blog in Beauty and Lifestyle Category – The Reluctant Stylista by Alexandra Lapa
Best Blog in Business Category – Ready to be Rich by Fitz Villafuerte
Best Blog in Culture and Arts – Anik-anik Love by Mitch Mauricio
Best Blog in Entertainment Category – Without Wang2 by Nickie Wang
Best Blog in Food and Beverage Category – Happy Foodies by Ferdz Decena
Best Blog in Gaming Category – Back 2 Gaming by B2Gamers
Best Blog in Hobby and Recreation – Back 2 Gaming by B2Gamers
Best Blog in Home and Parenting Category – iMom by Chats Siao
Best Blog in Humor Category – The Professional Heckler by Loi Reyes Landicho
Best Blog in Lifestyle – The Creative Dork by Robbie Bautista
Best Blog in Literature / Literary Category – City Buoy by Nyl Lim
Best Blog in Personal/Diary Category – Yoshke.com by Yoshke Dimen
Best Photoblog – Gerryruiz Photoblog by Gerry Ruiz
Best Blog in Social, Politics and History – The Pro Pinoy Project by The Pro Pinoy Project
Best Blog in Sports – Filipino Boxing Journal by Kenneth Ragpala
Best Blog in Technology Category – My Silly Point of View by Richard D. Feraro
Best Blog in Travel Cateogry – Just Wandering by Nina Fuentes
Best Blog in Video and Podcasts – Pinoy How To by Buddy and Yael Gancenia

SPECIAL AWARDS

Best Blog Design – The Reluctant Stylista
Bloggers’ Choice Award – CHKSLG
Readers’ Choice Award – Green Archers
Best Filipiniana Blog – My Sarisari Store
Top Blog Post for 2010 – Do They Read Blogs in Heaven? by Yoshke.com

Top Posts for 2010
EXCLUSIVE: GMA Breaks Her Silence by the Professional Heckler
Sometimes We Are Lost by I am Fickle Cattle.
Fireworks, Hormones and this Blog Post by Yoshke.com

Top Photo Posts for 2010
A Solo Traveler’s Photo Story of Backpacking in Palawan by Ambot Ah!
Pahiyas Festival by Biyaheng Pinoy

Top Video Posts and Podcasts for 2010
Krimmy Couple: Of Bad Words and Saranghae by My Korean Boyfriend
Podcast 6: Being Friends with the Ex by Ria Jose
Krimmy Couple: The Korean Eats Balut by My Korean Boyfriend