White Beach, Puerto Galera

Hey, hey!

Sorry , I wasn't able to go to Anawangin due to the last typhoon that wreaked havoc to Zambales. But we were able to go to White Beach, Puerto Galera. The beach is nothing compared to Saud's in Pagudpod but we had so much fun snorkeling.

I was expecting big waves as my friends have always warned me about Galera, but the sea was calm back and forth.

White Beach strip is full of restaus and bars, there is in fact a Tia Maria's. So if you're the type who likes to drink till the wee hours of the morning, then Galera is just the place for you even if you're on a tight budget. We just spent less than Php 3,000 for the whole 3 days, 2 nyts stay. Bus fare from Buendia to Batangas Pier, Php 146.50 each. Boat ride from Batangas Pier to White Beach, Php 436. We rented a room in Bangera Inn and paid Php 4,000 for the whole stay. The room has two double size beds, cable, hot and cold water, and the place although small is quite well kept.

Since we brought canned goods, coz we were not sure how much the food will be, it helped a lot to cut our expenses. Although the food is actually affordable. A meal could cost you Php 100 - Php 300 per person.

But the best experience of Galera is our snorkeling, not sure if it was the best snorkeling site, but since it was my first time to snorkel, the whole experience rocks. Can't wait to do it again and again and again. We paid Php 2,000 for the boat that will take us to the snorkeling site, they provided us the gears as well, although I would recommend that if you really want to enjoy snorkeling, buy your own gear (which I'll do). There were 7 of us who chipped in for the 2k.

For more pictures, go to http://jayngarcia.friendster.com

A fellow traveller

I just visited the website of Ivan Henares, http://www.ivanhenares.com/


I first encountered his name when Teejay, my teammate, mentioned Anawangin (which hopefully I can visit next next weekend), where his friends went. The power of Google search led Neens to Ivan's (naks...close :D) website, and I couldn't believe that he had been to almost every place that I wanted to go and more.


Teejay (the Wonder Kid)



And the good thing about his website is that he mentions fees and fares which are very helpful, especially to those who want to travel but are on a tight budget.

Sites such as Ivan About Town, makes you appreciate the Philippines more, I've always been fond of travelling but unlike others who would like to go out of the country such as Hong Kong and Singapore for a vacation, I'd rather stay here and explore the whole Philippines before I go out.

I remember a friend of mine, telling a story about an American she met in a bar in Hong Kong, when the guy found out that she's Filipina, he began telling stories of how much fun he had while vacationing in Bohol and he was really raving about the beauty of the place, then my friend mentioned that she had never been to Bohol, and the guy asked "then what are you doing here"? How ironic isn’t it that other nationalities have explored the country you've been born into and yet you haven’t.

That's what I love about Ivan's website, a documentation of all those explored places; how I wish I can go to all the places he’d been to…..

Kudos to Ivan!

How detailed can you possibly get.......

This is so funny, that I really need to share right away (to think I'm still in the office doing this blog....oooooops.. did I just type that...I mean after my shift)....hahahhahaha

Came from an instruction for our Annual Physical Exam (I wonder if they have tagalog version).....bwahahahaha

Title : Collection of Midstream Urine Samples

* Urine sample will be collected on the time of exam.

Ø Use an approved empty sterile container for collection.

Ø Wash and dry your hands thoroughly.

Ø Remove the container cap and set it aside. Do not touch the inner surfaces of the container to avoid any possible contamination.

Ø Wash your urogenital area (“lower parts”) with the towelette or napkin. Women: wipe from front to back between the folds of skin. Men: retract the foreskin (if uncircumcised), and clean the glands (head of the penis).

Ø The intent is to collect sample midways through the urination process (hence the name “midstream” urine).

Ø Pass a small amount of urine into the toilet, (women: hold skin folds apart). Stream of urine may be contaminated with skin and urethral bacteria.

Ø Then midways through urination, urinate into the container. The container should only be ½ to 2/3 full.

Ø Replace the cap and tighten firmly.

Ø Remember to wash your hands thoroughly after collecting the specimen.

Ø Bring specimens to the laboratory as soon as possible.

Collection of Stool

Specimen cups will be given ahead of exam schedule.

Ø Fecal specimen should be collected in a clean wide – mouthed containers received from the laboratory receptionists. This must be labeled with patient’s name and control number.

Ø The fecal specimen should not be contaminated with toilet paper, water, urine or other materials should not be included.

Ø For routine examination of parasite and stool specimen for culture and sensitivity, the specimen should be submitted to the laboratory within 30 minutes to 2 hours of collection.

Ø Unlabeled and leaking containers cannot be accepted upon submission and need to be recollected.

Ø The patient should be advised to select parts of stool which contain pus, mucous, or blood to transfer to sterile container. A small amount of stool (pea / thumb size) is enough for the analysis.
*******************

New Camera

At long last I got my new camera...an Olympus Stylus 1030sw. Waterproof up to 32.8 feet and shockproof, all for the price of Php 18,850.00 (converted from Malaysian Ringgit + Western union fees). Actually if you're gonna buy it here in Manila (malls), it would cost you Php 25,995.00, so since Malaysia and Singapore are gadget havens, I asked Joey (a friend of mine from KL) to check the price of the cam. And lo and behold...it's 8,000 cheaper. So I immediately told him that I'm gonna send him the money to buy me one, actually two, coz Niño, my teammate who first introduced me to the cam, would also like to buy 1 for himself.

After Joey canvassed the cam, it was RM 1,350.00 equivalent to Php 18,355.00

To cut it all short, I got the camera last Sunday! But not before I found out about the store in Robinson's Pioneer that sells the same camera for only Php 16,500.00. WTF! Yes, after all the canvassing and the kahihiyan to my friend to buy the cam for me, and to have him pakisuyo to one of his friends to bring it here, there's a freaking store that sells it cheaper than any store in Malaysia!

Although, I can't help but wonder why is it that cheap....uyyyyyyyy...pampalubag loob lang po!

Well moving on....I took quite a number of pictures the day that I got it ...but I'm not gonna post everything here, coz most of them I already deleted, dahil wala syang kwenta, you have to understand I'm still learning how to use it...

I haven't tried its under water feature though, my original plan was to jump into the pool the minute that I have it, but I had to see Lhen later that day, so I wasn't able to swim



The 1st picture I took was of Niño in Tender Bob's, where I waited for him so I could give him the camera. Then he took a picture of me using his camera, para kaming nanalo sa isang raffle holding the camera, sayang walang DTI rep to assist us.


Anyway, please look forward to lots of entries with pics from hereon.....especially my upcoming out-of-town trips....woot!

Sei - 1 of my subjects to test my camera on @ Greenbelt after watching Ironman (i love it!)


Jason - while waiting for Sei & I to finish our pictorial in the CR :)


Signing off......

Prologue

Why get into blogging? First because I saw my friend’s blog site and it was so cool, and since I already started doing blogs on my Friendster account why not create a real blog site of my own, where I can post not jut my thoughts but pictures as well, (am actually buying a new camera within the month, yipeeee!!).

My first problem doing this blog is creating a name for it, I wanted it to sound cool and yet smart at the same time. I want my readers (oh hah!) to have an idea of what I’m about based on my blog name. And that’s basically the problem, coz I can’t find a word that can describe who I am.

I know that I’m analytical, sardonic, cynical, a dreamer and a lot more.

I love to travel, and by the way that’s also one of the reasons why I created this blog, so I can post all my travel pics. Wait how about travelogue (smiling…as if I achieved something great)!

There…there…Ladies and gentlemen let me present to you…the dreamer’s travelogue.