It was the happiest moment of my life when i heard her say "Yes my baby" my plan turned out as i planned, there were moments when i thought she already knew i was going to propose that night because of my own doing hehehe, First i would like to thank Carlsten and Rachel for helping me find the perfect engagement ring, to Hearts and Arrows ( Robinson Galleria Branch ) for the effort of finding the exact ring size and design within a day which normaly takes 1 to 2 weeks preparation. To my mom for her blessing. To tita raquel and tita becky for being so supportive and making me feel welcome to their family. To my bosses for allowing me to take a leave to be here on singapore on my birthday-proposal. i would like to thank the staff of Sky dining and Jewel box for making my wedding proposal a success, im sure we will be back again to thank personally everybody for their help. I planned this on my birthday so that she couldnt refuse :-) and even thought of jumping out of the cable car if she refuses :-) thats how crazy inlove i am to her. Even if she would have sad no i would still wait for her. We started the evening around  7:00pm i was going to meet her at Mt Faber, i went ahead so that i could talk with the staff to place the engagement ring on top of the dessert. i said i was going to propose and i would like to know what are thier services for wedding proposals then she told me that normally i have to inform them a week in advance, i told her i was going to propose that night i knew she was happy for me because of her smile, so she help me. It was set, i will go back down to meet valerie, i can't believe that it is just going to be a couple of hours when i will ask her to marry me. im excited and nervous at the
same time, but the moment i saw her face, her smile in my heart i know everything is going to be alright.Our Menu - Soup/First Round Cream of Tomato Soup Served with Garlic Crostini Main Course/Second Round Valerie ordered Pan-fried Fish ( Dori Fish ) Fillet in Moroccan Spice Served with Seasonal vegetables and mashed potatoes and i ate Grilled Chicken with Pommery Mustard Jus Served with Seasonal vegetables and Baked potatoes, We took our dessert at Jewel Box we had the best seat and view of singapore, i think the staff of jewel box specialy made that seat for us because it was the only kind in the entire restaurant, with the view and the perfect romantic setting, the dessert was about to be served, i looked at once on top of the cake if the ring was on it, i was surprised because it was not there, i almost jump off my seat to check if there was a mis communication or was it served with other couples, when out of no where there was another waiter with his hands on his back as he approches us he was going to serve our Apple Crumble Served with strawberry and Vanilla sauce with the Engagement ring on Top!!! and can feel he is happy for us or maybe he is thinking how nervous i was when i didnt saw the ring on the first cake dessert hehehe. The waitress took our picture and the cake where the ring was, i thought alerie noticed, i was afraid she saw the ring before i could propose, then i picked up the plate and showed her, then i ased the question..Will you marry me? She said " YES my baby!!!" it was heaven. i couldnt asked for more. We talked about when and were we will get married we forgot about the cake hehehe then we lit up the candle for my birthday to make a wish, My wish came true!.i love you so much my baby valerie!!! This is the Next step in our relationship, I promise to take care of you and love you forever.

DAVAO OR PALAWAN? These were the choices we had on our 2nd anniversary. Davao famous for Pearl Farm. Disadvantage, can't think of any. Palawan is known for its virgin beaches, world class dive sites, colorful corals, simple living...But its also known for abu sayaff (because of the kidnaping), malaria (the death of the son of a known broadcaster). We really wanted to experience diving despite fear from A sayaff and malaria but we still chose Palawan. Little by little through research from the net and interviews from friends A syaff and malaria were far from were we are going ( Coron Palawan ). Coron Palawan is on the upper most tip near Negros. I even consulted a doctor for a possible Anti malaria shot but friends of mine who went there did not take any, so did we. Next came what airline to chose..Asian Spirit (Fly as Asians and land as Spirits..hehehe) or Sea Air ( Leave on Land and land on Sea..;) )We decided to take Sea Air, it was more expensive means it is reliable and safe. The day before we leave, A teller from Sea Air moved our schedule from 7am to 11 am due to Preventive Maintenance on the plane, PM means it is planned and must not be a valid reason, so Valerie emailed the Manager of Sea Air to complain because of the sudden changes, imagine a day before !@#$@ grrr...there was no answer from them so my GF called the Manager to personally complain and something positive turned out..We were given a 50% discount on our next travel via sea air, yey!..It was my first time to take a 19 seater plane, its like a paper airplane inside a wind tunnel ...scary!!!.

On the day of our departure we were both excited and afraid, specially valerie, she almost back out after seeing the plane. The noise of the propeller scared her to death. She grabbed my arms like a little girl on her first day of school. Then in a couple of minutes we were off to the sky..the trip took 1 1/2 hour..Landing was as scary as take off because we thought that we would land on uncemented landing strip which my friend told me about. But i was wrong the Landing area was already cemented about 90% hehehe. We were the only local tourist on the plane, i think we were with Germans, we cant understand their language. We took a jeep which costs 150 php each for the ride to town, We arrived at Sea Dive just a few steps whre we were drop off. We stayed for one night and looked for another lodge because there was no television, Valerie was looking forward to watch Kakaksa ka ba sa grade five on Sat eveneing, we ended up on Village lodge, we loved the tinolang manok which costs 150 which was good for 3 to 4 persons, it was the best tinolang manok i've ever tasted yumyum :)..Since we had time in our hands we tried Maquinit hot springs, well the name for itself proved right hehehe, it was a bumbpy tricycle ride and the further you go you would notice the change from electric lights to just candles inside the household. I thought i could not dip in because it was so hot, Valerie took it with ease hehehe i recommend a slow decsend to keep youself from being burnt hehe..we had a great time and it gave us a rejuvination from the flight, we went back to our lodge to rest..Our island hoping was set, we contacted a local tourist guide, 1st day it costs us 1500 php, We were prepared, we even bought similar wet suits at Speedo for our plan to dive. 1st stop was Siete Pecados,i thought once you've seen school of fishes on the TV screen, movies it's just the same, but i was so wrong, my heart beat so fast after seeing school of fishes swimming in front of me and eventually all around me!!! it was like inside a huge aquarium. Second we went to Kayangan Lake, i thoughtlakes were just good to look at, i cant imagine it being clean, but Kayangan Lake was so clean, you could see the bottom!!! Third we went to Skeleton wreck snorkling, It rained and change the ambiance from paradise to an abandoned ship like we see on the movies hehehe, the hair of your skin will truly raise when you see the skeleton wreck, it was worth the trip. After the wreck we called it a day and headed back for shore, can't wait to eat dinner, and try another cuisine yumyum...we ate at a french restaurant, the owner ( French guy ) which already settled in palawan served us with mouth watering food, see pictures inside..after a wonderful dinner we walked the streets of coron, it was peaceful and calm. holding her hand and looking at her makes my day complete.

Our plan the next day was to go to banna island and Malcapuyao island, the trip would cost around P2500 for 2 persons, but we meet 2 filipino travelers like us who where looking to share a boat to save on the cost, the 4 of us costs 3000 php for the boat trip, the boatman added 500 pesos, we saved 1000 php and gained new friends, what more could you ask for..Banana island was more beautiful than what i have expected, and the best part of it we were the only visitors that day, the entire day!!! because it was a monday and most of the tourists went home on sunday. it was like a private island on palawan, everything so clean and untouched..i brought with me an underwater camera hoping to see fishes and corals, guess what??? we found NEMO!!! it was like a 3d animation infront of my face to see the full video open our video files. We even tried to treck the whole banana island, i never thought we would make it heheheh it took us quite a time and a ot of cuts and bruises but it was worth it, we can proudly say we've seen all the angles of banana island, Valerie was so strong and calm. We took our lunch and rested, went for some snorkling and went to Malcapuyao Island, it was equally beautiful as Banana island, it was in Malcapuyao that i saw my first sting ray yey!! Valerie wasnt able to see it because it was too fast :( We took some pictures together with our boatman and new friends, wrote on the sands of Malcapuyao Island that it was our 2nd Anniversary, i love you so much my baby valerie!!!! We went home before the sun sets because it would be dangerous to travel during night time because of the limited light available on the shoreline. We went home with a smile on our faces. Our last day we climb Mt Tapyas, we thought it would be a breeze, it was a hard climbed to the top, there were benches along the way, now i know why it is there hehehehe. i recommend that you climbed Mt Tapyas early because once you reach 9am it starts to get hot, if you didnt bring any water with you good luck of reaching the top, this was the second time we tried it because the first try was when we got here we tried and not even halfway we returned because we forgot to bring our water supply.

It was time to say Good bye, the experience and the sceneries that we saw will forever be in our hearts and mind, no picture can capture what the naked eye could see.

Compared to last year's Independence Day, Joal and I did not prepare much for this day.  He just visited me in my house in Laguna and watched the Break-up.  We were supposed to have a Straight-Tagalog-Speaking game, but we ended up forgetting it.

Because it's Independence day, I just made a simple artwork which can also be seen in my friendster. This was made thru photoshop paintbrushes ;-)  Hope you like it!

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c203/unvalerie/forkalayaan.jpg

Our Departure (Apr 4):  We're already in Manila Domestic Airport as early as 2am!  Yup, our flight is at 4:55am and we thought that it would be easier and safer for us to leave that early than leave at home a little late.  But we didn't wait too long, it seemed like time ran too fast then. 

Cebu Pacific was 5 minutes early, that's why we arrived in CDO past half 6.  Me and joal were just sleeping during the whole flight as we never got a good sleep since April 2.  It was horribly tiring but not until we arrived at Cagayan domestic Airport.  The morning air was so cool and fresh which instantly re-energized us and re-freshed our moods.

The fare from the airport to Divisoria was P200.  (I was actually quite pissed off about the price because I felt like we were being taken advantaged of, but we were told by a friend earlier that fare costs around P150-P300.)  We were to meet Mr. Rupert Domingo for our most-awaited adventure of the day, the whitewater rafting!  We were able to get their promo package of P500 for a 12.32 km rafting with 14 rapids.  We had our breakfast at McDOnald's while waiting for Rupert.

Macahambus Adventure Park.
The first stop after we met Rupert was at the Macahambus Adventure Park where you can do skybridge walking, ziplining and rapelling.  If you want to do all three, the cost is P500.  You can't do the zipline without through three skybridge walk (120 m each).  Joal and I did the skybridge walk and zipline for P300 each.  At first, I was kind of afraid to do the former because of the height (120 ft) and the bridge itself is only made of woods and ropes which shifted with a slight move. As we started the  walk, the guide goes first, me at the middle and joal at my back.  I calmed after I got through the first bridge, huh! 

And so the zipline was next. This was what I'd actually been excited about.  The zipline was about 120 meters long (14 seconds) and 36 meters height. I was a little nervous at first but after the guide pushed me through and zipped, I got the best time of my life!  Kumar, the raft guide, thought I would scream, but I didn't.

As I waited for Joal's turn, I noticed that he was not holding his camera as he told me he would.  Later did I find out that he ran out of battery - meaning, we wouldn't be able to take pictures during the whole whitewater rafting activity.

The Whitewater Rafting.
This was the activity joal had been anticipating.  I didn't like this much as I was afraid to get hit by the rocks or get toppled upside down.  Luckily, those fears spared me. We started after the orientation and some guidelines.  There should be 6 persons in one raft so joal and i had to join other groups.  Our raft consisted of me, joal, melvin, glen and the 2 guides.  Melvin and Glen have been our instant friends in CDO, with the former's wife, Joy, who was not able to join us in the rafting because she's pregnant.  Since we didn't have our camera anymore, Glen and Melvin offered their cameras for our picture-taking.

The water was cool and a little bit winding, soon the waves were fast and we had to go over the rocks down with the water.  I was just quiet, concentrating with my heavy paddling when Melvin who was seated in front beside Joal fell off the raft. 

Good thing he didn't hit the rock!  The guide took him back and he said he's just fine.  That was the first out of the 14 rapids we would be undertaking.

My favorite part was when the guides would allow us to go swimming with our vest on.  The guides told us to just float with our legs in front, so when we approach a rock, we would just push it hard and avoid accident.

We also had a little stopover where in we would have to cross a river sideways facing the current of the water.  I must say it was one of the hardest.  The water was so strong that it could easily push me away.  Melvin, Glen, Joal and me, holding each other's vest, draggingly stepped sideward to the left.  At first, I thought the guide was just kidding us, but when he started to give us instructions, only then did I believe he's serious.  We were able to cross the river for about 3-5 minutes.

The crossing-the-river-sideways almost drained my energy, but it should not be because the guide told me that we still had to go through 4 more rapids!  It was already past 3pm then and we thought we had to hurry up so we wouldn't miss the last ferry ride to Camiguin.

The rafting ended almost at 4pm.  We said that we had to get to Agora market and Balingoan as soon as possible so we wouldn't miss the ferry which is at 5pm.  Bus ride to Balingoan would take about 2 hrs.  Fortunately, our taxi driver offered us a ride straight to Balingoan for P1,500.  We agreed on the deal as Melvin, Joy and Glen would also join us.

We arrived at Balingoan port at almost 7pm.  We were so lucky that we were able to catch the last ferry to Camiguin.  It was not usual to still get a ferry to Camiguin at 7pm, but since it was Holy Week, they knew there'd be a lot of people travelling late.  We aboarded M/V Pepitas which costs P100 each.

Camiguin Arrival (April 4): The ferry left the port at 8pm.  Joal fell asleep as soon as he got his seat while I was watching music video on TV.  I was also able to sleep but not for long... I was not comfortable with my seat. The ride took us 2 hours to get to Benoni, Camiguin.  There were no more more jeepneys that would take us to our resort but only habal-habal or motorcycles.  But we didn't ride there because aside from the fact that they're expensive (P200/habal-habal), we don't think that they could still accommodate our things.

It was an advantage that Melvin took the phone number of Krisagani, a tour guide cum driver, from one of our mates in whitewater rafting. After 40 minutes, he arrived at Benoni port.  He took us to our resorts for P400.  Melvin, Joy and Glen stayed at Seascape which is quite adjacent from our resort, Morning Glory.

The owner of Morning Glory was a friend of Joal.  He was not there though but his father accommodated us.  The room  has one double bedroom and a cr.  I think very few resorts offer airconditioned room because it's quite cold in Camiguin, especially at night.  The room is P300/night.

Camiguin Tour (April 5): Our day started at 6am, April 5.  It was also our 17th month anniversary.  Joal and I were so excited to go to White Island, which can be viewed from our resort.  It would just take 10-15 minute boat ride to white island which costs P400.  We stayed there for 2 hrs.  Joal and I had roasted chicken, instant cup noodles and milo for breakfast.  The price was affordable.

White Island was just a small island, as in literally small.  There were no trees, or big rocks..only white sand, cottages (also restaurants), clear blue water and people.  It has a good view of Mt. Vulcan and Mt. Hibok-Hibok.  Since white island is a good time for snorkeling and swimming, joal and i took advantage of the 1 and a half hours remaining. Joal did enjoy his new speedo snorkeling gadgets. It is best to go in white island in the morning during low tide, as most of it disappears under the sea in the afternoon.

Kris informed us ahead of time that he wouldn't be able to tour us anymore but sent his cousin, Titing.  The 8-hour day tour costs P1500.  After white island, Titing brought us to ardent hot spring.  I like it there though I didn't swim.  Joal and I planned to go back there the next day as we only stayed there for 30 mins.

We then proceeded to Katibawasan falls.  Its waterfalls measure about 250 feet high cascades to a rock pool surrounded by ground orchids, wild ferns, trees and boulders. We left after taking some pictures and headed to Catarman Church Ruins.

It's close to 12noon and we wanted to have lunch at J&A Fishpen, but Titing said it's out of the way so we just decided to have lunch at Manitigues Island (P500 boat ride).  The island has 4 hectares of evergreen forest fringed with white sandy beach.  It's good for swimming and snorkeling as it's also known as a fish sanctuary.  Ka Roger (0920.230.0607) accommodated us.  He's so nice and very friendly.  He said we can actually stay there for a night for P800, but of course we can't.  He served us good food for our lunch such as swordfish, seaweeds and soup which cost P800.  The water in Mantigue Island is almost the same as in White Island - blue crystal in color and the sand is powdery white.

We didn't stay any longer at Mantigue Island as we had to go back to Camiguin Island where Titing is waiting for us. From there we headed to Mt. Vulcan.  It was Maundy Thursday when we came so most Camiguenos were celebrating Panaad.  Panaad is a religious activity, a Lenten 64-kilometer circumferential walk that climaxes at the "Walkway to the Cross" in Catarman town on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, and "Tabo" on Easter Sunday in Mambajao, the capital town.  Soon we proceeded to Sunken Cemetery.

We exceeded the 8-hour day tour of Titing so we paid him an additional fee of P200.  Joal and I were so dead-tired and yet were so very happy about the trip.  We ended the day with roasted chicken, chicharon and mangoes for supper.

Last Day in Camiguin (April 6): Joal really liked the White Island so we went back there on our last day in Camiguin.  Our friends Would already be going back to Manila the next day so they just opted to stay in their resort.  Joal wanted to stay in White Island until 1pm.  Good thing we found a boatman just infront of our resort who offered us a P200 boatride to the island.  Joal snorkeled almost the whole morning while I stayed in our tent sleeping.  We were supposed to go boating because Joal brought his inflatable boat but we changed our minds because of the waves.  Soon the sun disappeared and the rain fell.  Joal went back to the tent and we both slept.  We woke up when it's already 12:30 and the boatman returned to fetch us.  It rained harder when we left the island and couldn't even see it from our resort.

After we had our lunch at the resort, Joal set up the hammock he bought from Mt. Vulcan.  It was so relaxing to lay there reading magazine.

Back in CDO (April 7): Since we had nothing left to do in Camiguin, we decided to go back in Cagayan and do the zipline again.  We didn't know where to stay in CDO but we asked the information center in Agora market where we could stay that's near in Limketkai Center. 

She recommended us the Pearlmont Inn which is P1150/night. It's already 4pm so we immediately went to Limketkai Center to have lunch.  There were not much stores opened because of the observance of Holy Week.  We were actually looking for a cdo restaurant but there's none.  As a last resort, we ate at Shakeys.

After that, we went back to Divisoria for the Night Market.  We were told that there's no night market because it's a Good Friday .  I suddenly felt sick so we went home after we took more pictures of the plaza.  I went home first while Joal headed to Greenwhich to buy Pizza for our dinner.

Our Last Day in CDO (April 8): It's our last day in CDO and our itinerary is all set. We'd planned to go to San Agustin Cathedral, Gardens of Malasag Eco-Tourism Park and Lendol Gold Spring.  We were not able to go to Lendol anymore as it's really too far from the Pearlmont.

 After checking out, we went to Gardens of Malasag which is about 15-20 minute jeepney ride from our hotel, and another 5-10 minute ride of habal-habal.  We left our luggages in the hotel and would just pick them up when we returned. 

The gardens of malasag was very serene.  It reminded me of the Pink Sister's retreat house in Tagaytay but larger.  It is located within the 200 hectare reforested area of Malasag Hill, the 6 hectare village showcase replicas of different tribal houses of the region, flora and fauna.  There is a swimming pool for children and adults and accomodations for overnight stay.  We ate at its restaurant overlooking the Macajalar Bay. 

The food served to us were fresh and very delicous.  We only paid P305.

The saleslady from the souvenir shop told us that we also had to go to Mapawa Nature Park which is just five minutes away from the gardens of Malasag.  We asked our habal-habal tour guide, Arnel (920.470.7663), to bring us there.  The Mapawa Nature Park was awesomely breathtaking.  It's so sad that we found out about that park too late.  They offered a day tour for P950 which includes, horse-back riding, jumping from 25 ft waterfall, rapelling, ziplining, water slide and food.  For a P950 I think it's all worth it.  Since we can't do those activities because we're catching a plane back to Manila in almost 2 hours, we just did the zipline for P100 each.  This time, Joal was able to take our pictures and videos!

Arnel offered to take us to Cagayan Domestic Airport by his Multicab for P450.  We immediately agreed because we're really in a hurry.  After getting his multicab from his house and our things from Pearlmont, we hurriedly go to the airport.  We arrived in less than 30 minutes, thanks to Arnel, heheh!

I bought more pasalubong at the airport including Malong worth P250.  I think it's cheaper to buy pasalubong in cdo market than any other places.

We arrived in Manila a little past 7pm, tired yet very very happy.  We knew we had a very exciting holiday.  I usually don't wanna go back to places I've already visited.  But this time, I'd make an exemption.  When I return to CDO in the future, I'd definitely take the Mapawa one-day package, go to Bukidnon, Iligan and Lanao.  I think I fell in love with CDO... it would really break my heart if it would just be destroyed in the future.  It's the place i find hard to leave and impossible to forget.

This year has been quite good enough for both Joal and me.  Although there had been earlier plans that did not materialize, there had also been some happenstances that happened without us expecting them.  From January to present our weekends have been eventful..meaning we have attended numerous events of our friends and relatives, not to mention a couple of family lunches & dinners and our unprepared yet unforgettable tour in Zoobic.

Summer is here and I think everyone is looking forward for the Holy Week.  This year's Holy Week is quite long compared to previous years; thus, working people (like me and joal) are indeed very grateful about this because this is a great time to pack our things up and travel.

It's nice to hear that some of our friends have already been asking where would we be going to this summer.  It's like they already knew and quite anticipating our adventures.  Heheh!  Yes, we'll go out of town; and neither me nor joal would disappoint each other by letting the Holy Week pass without us having fun together. And so for Summer 2007, we're going to... Camiguin!

Joal and I have purchased our RT tickets as early as January from Cebu Pacific.  Cebu Pacific had had this P998 promo and so we availed of it.  We're leaving on April 4 and returning on the 8th.  We're arriving in Cagayan and we'll do some  little adventures there and by afternoon we're going to Camiguin.  We will really try to be in Camiguin on that same day as we like to spend our 17th monthly anniversary (April 5) there.

May is the month of Joal's birthday.  This will be our 2nd time to spend that special day together.  I'm excited and at the same time wondering what to give to him for birthday present...hmmm?

We are going to extend the Summer until June for a certain museum's annual Summer Art Workshop.  Yes, our Summer 2007 won't only be filled with travel, food and adventures, there'll be some studying, too.  Joal is registered in the Intermediate Oil Painting Workshop while I'm listed in the Intermediate Watercolour Painting.  I had Joal choose between those two workshops as I want to study both, which I can't because of the same schedules.  With this setup, at least we know we'll teach each other and learn from each other.

Summer is here.  Promise we'll keep you posted ;-)

As we turned ONE YEAR, my mind drifted back to the things and experiences we shared together.  I realized that the past 12 mos. have been by far the most number of times I've watched movies in theatres (see movie photos), the most number of times I texted/called a single person in a day, the most number of times I was taken photographed of, hugged, kissed, called upon, everything.  And of course, the past 12 months have been the year of travel for us both.  We went to Boracay, Sagada, Baguio and Pagudpud, not to mention our long road trips in Tagaytay and Batangas. 

I did not expect that we'd click this way.  But we did...effortlessly.  As a couple, I can not say anything negative.  Perhaps we just both embrace each other's strengths and weaknesses or maybe because we're simply mentally attuned to each other:  We both love travelling, eating, watching movies, talking, laughing, and walking fastly.  To top it all, I can not remember anything we've fought or argued about. 

Planning for our first anniversary together was not very hard for us to make.  We both knew that we'd go out of town, we just didn't know where we'd celebrate it to.  But as early as September, we purchased 2 RT tickets to Laoag after we got the news that Cebu Pacific had a promo.  Since we've been hearing a lot of positive reviews about Pagupud on the net, we decided to spend our anniversary there, only a 3-hour bus ride from Laoag.  Nothing could beat the enjoyment we had in Pagudpud.  Seeing the sunset and the fullmoon was definitely exhilarating.  So, what else can I ask for?  Nothing could be more pleasurable than to watch the glorious sunset beside a gorgeous man in the world - Joal!

Thanks to my baby for the bliss that he brings thru his presence.  We know that the strength of our relationship has been our binding force and is one that will never know an end.  I will always look forward to our many more adventures and yet-to-be-planned trips.  The greatest adventure of all, however, is that those we share together in love..and I will always cherish everything we've got no matter how small or grand it is.

I love him so much.  I fear to be apart of him, and to lose him.  I can not imagine my life without him, thus, I won't let go of him. He is my confidante, my shock absorber, my emotional cheerleader,  my security blanket... and most of all, my bestfriend.  I love him so much like I have never loved before.  I love him more and more each day.  Falling in love with him was the sweetest thing that ever happened to me. 

And he means the world to me.

      This  is  the cake I  had Art Cakes, Glorietta made for     us. They did justice on my design but it got messed a day before our anniversary...sigh!                                  

- anne valerie (14nov06)