My first Snoopy backpack. Hurray!

posted from Bloggeroid

Attended the 3rd ANCOP (Answering the cry of the poor) Global Walk here in our province. I woke up as early as 3:30 in the morning and headed to the venue after 30 minutes, including the time for me to get ready after waking up. :)

I quote Father Gadia, the officiating priest on the Sunday mass: "Answering the cry of the poor is the concrete expression of love because there will always be poor until the end of time." Amen to that Father.

Excited to walk again next year to help elevate poverty in the province and in the entire country. Ü

posted from Bloggeroid

Lunch Date with my Brother and Boyfriend

Had lunch at one of my favorite restaurants here in Masbate, Racknel's. They serve the best crispy pata in town! I swear! Try it out when you're here. My brother and I split the bill although he's the one who paid a lot. Hehe.

posted from Bloggeroid

Shorter Hair

Hi! After how many months, I was able to convince my boyfriend that I needed a hair cut. He's really against it even though I've been insisting it since the start of summer. Well, I felt free after the hair cut. You know, free from the discomfort of having long and messy hair during El Niño. ;)

Do I look good in it?

posted from Bloggeroid

The heat is too much to bear yet I have to finish all my requirements to be a fully pledged teacher. Oh God. Thank you for all the blessings.

posted from Bloggeroid

Had an amazing and fulfilling dive again at Buntod Marine Sanctuary with dear friends serving at the community.

posted from Bloggeroid

Summer 2014

This is the best summer I've ever had! I don't have to travel away from the gun-shaped province in the map because it has lots to offer. Other people out there has to withdraw a handful of cash from their savings in exchange for a memorable summer getaway. Well, I don't have to do that because (1) I don't have money due to unemployment and (2) Masbate's surrounded of hidden beauty and only awaits for its people to uncover that beauty.

Here are some of the photos that may (or may not?) sum up my summer 2014 and if you have any questions, please feel free to drop your comments below. I will accommodate all questions to the best of my knowledge. You are most welcome to visit the province. :)

Masbate is composed of three islands: Masbate, Ticao and Burias. So expect a row of beaches wherever you go in the province. But, as a spoiler, the fun in the province may START with the beach but it won't definitely END in the beach. As previously mentioned by yours truly, Masbate has lots to offer.

To officially start my summer 2014, I asked my cousins and boyfriend out for a dive in the beach. But as practical as we are, we found ourselves an area for FREE! Yey! The city alone has a variety of beaches to choose from BUT they're not for free. Since we are surrounded with water and we grew up seeing seas, we're really not that meticulous as to where we're going for a swim. As long as you have the company of crazy friends or relatives or loved ones, you will never care whether you have to bring your own cover for a shed and you have rocks for a table and chairs. Hehe. We're commoners so it's totally fine with us.

Here's the view of the sea from our position in the above photos ^_^

Well, if you're here in Masbate Island, you shouldn't miss the Buntod Reef Marines. Ask anyone around and you'll never get lost as to how you'll get there. Here are some of the shots we had when my family and I went there for this year's summer.

Flags' behind my brother is an object you'll always find in any beach resort. I don't know why but the feels of having it around the area really makes one feel that he's in the beach. Am I right?

I must say that if you're going to come here, take a dive. Experience the crystal clear water of Buntod. Anyway, it will take you a great deal of guts to resist the tempting invitation of the water. Don't forget to put on a lot of sunblock lotion all over your body 'cause you'll definitely won't come out of water for how many hours. This is a Marine Sanctuary by the way. You can rent out scuba diving paraphernalias to find nemo and his friends. Hehe.

If you're an sport enthusiast, why not try beach volleyball? The sandbar's a great place to play the game with or without rules. Just for fun! You just have to bring your own volleyball because they don't have one.

As vain as I am, I can't miss the chance of posing for another picture perfect moment. Don't you just love the crystal blue water behind my back? Imagine yourself being there.

Also, there are mangroves in the area. My cousin here couldn't help but pose for the camera with the mangroves as his background. Nice ain't it?

Next on the list was our visit on my mother's fish pond. It was a wide area and I never expected that my mom has a pond. Well, she's really mum about the properties she has. I don't ask too because I don't want her thinking that I'm after her properties.

Being the explorer that I am, I went there in the pond and tried catching some shrimps and fishes too. I must say that my feet covered in mud wasn't really that of a big deal. I gladly took a photo of it as an evidence and as a souvenir that after how many years, I experienced being in the mud again. No matter how scared I was whenever I step forward and how the ground seemed to swallow my foot, I was still excited to grab the shrimp fighting to get back to the water.

We didn't visit the market for a week or more because of these. :)

My great summer hasn't ended yet. Here comes the Holy Week and on Good Friday, my brothers and sisters in Christ and I decided to observe Stations of the Cross at Cawayan, Masbate. It was an hour and a half ride on a motorcycle from the city. 

You get to enjoy more of the road ahead just because. I am not a professional driver but whenever I got hold of the steering wheel of my motorcycle, I drive faster than the usual because I love the feels of the wind in my face. This is the perfect road for driving because it's a long road and you can easily spot if there's another vehicle on the other lane.

Welcome to the Begia Foothills Prayer Mountain! :)

We have to climb the stairs to get there and have a picture with the statues at the top of the hill. That's not the first time I visited the prayer mountain though. It's actually the third but it's the first time I went there that the place was jampacked. We were told that the place is famous during Holy Week because devotees climb there to observe Stations of the Cross like we did.

The view there was spectacular and breathtaking I must say.

It's a great spot for a jump shot. Haha. Don't you love how they rhymed? Haha.

Here's a photo of my second time in the place and it's empty. It was just me and my boyfriend. The first time I saw this shot after my boyfriend took this, I said "Whoa! It's as if I'm in other country!" Don't you think so?

And like my first time there, I didn't miss the chance of taking a photo with this statue. Felt like I was in Brazil. Oh yeah?

The next day, Black Saturday, we drove off again to yet another place to visit and to recollect. Yes, we grabbed the chance to have a retreat even as a small group as we are.

It was an overnight activity. We had an activity, "Shell and Stone Activity", wherein you give a shell to the person you honor and a stone to the one who may have caused you pain or simply to correct a negative attitude. We finished it at around 4AM and we have to wake up as early as 6AM.

The Easter Sunday activity was to reflect on certain things or aspects in your life. We found our own place in the resort to have an "intimate" date with the Lord. As I roamed the area, I couldn't help scribbling my name on the sand like I always do.

Here's a photo of me trying to connect with the Lord while strolling around. Haha. I forgot the name of the beach we went to but it's located at Milagros, Masbate, an hour or so drive away from the city.

Just in case you thought we're all beaches and don't have any pools, well, you're wrong. Haha. One day, the summer heat was so irritating and it makes us all so uncomfortable, I invited my cousins to take a plunge at a nearby swimming pool. The place costs us a lot but we don't care. As long as it took the heat away from our body, we're okay with that. You might ask why we chose the pool and not the FREE beach on the first part of this entry, well, that's because I can't afford to have another sunburn. I'm morena so the months spent avoiding the sun to have a fairer skin was only a minute spent near the beach and boom! Back to being morena again. Hahaha. That's why the pool is the safest choice. The effect is not as harsh as on the beach.

But of course, I couldn't say "Nooooooo" to the beach completely because summer means family reunion and it's always held on the same beach annually.

Here's a photo of me by the beach. Thanks to the self-timer in my cousin's DSLR so this was made possible. Haha.

I seriously need to get away from the beach because the blue water always tempt me. I felt like plunging in the water that moment. If only not for my skin, I will really take all the time in world swimming back and forth like I always do.

This is how the beach looked like from another area.

This may be a long post but here's the last summer escapade I've done. Enough of the water and let's do mountain climbing.

It's actually a falls but since it hasn't rained since last month I guess, the water falling  from the top was a disappointment. But hey! If we can't enjoy the water falling hard from the top, at least we got the chance to climb in this steep. I don't know how tall it was but it was really tall. I'm all sweat by the time I reached the top.

I totally want to tap my shoulder for job well done. I reached the top without screaming for fear of falling. I have fear for heights that's why as we were climbing, I refuse to look down. I might get dizzy if I did. The rocks were slippery even if it's not covered with moss and they're dry. If I don't have a strong grip, I could have fallen. Thank God I have supportive company who looked after me: my brother and three cousins.

No matter how hard the climb was, the view was a total reward.

Whoa! I want to live there. If only we own the place, I will build a rest house there. No matter how tiring the climb was, it was really all worth it. I love the effect of green view in my eyes. Plus, the calming effect of the blue sky. My brother jokingly describe the place as "piso na lang, langit na" ("one more coin and its heaven already").

My brother and cousins with the coconut fruits we got to enjoy while resting  at the top.

I refuse to talk more on our trip going back. Haha. I got a small cut in my finger and few more cuts on my legs because of gravity. Hahaha.

After all the trekking, I satisfied myself with a swim at the falls. It was quite refreshing. It took all the tiredness from my system. Really.

My favorite photo while at the stream. Ü

You see, I experienced nature at its purest.

Here's a selfie photo of us after swimming.

The best of summer is yet to come. Not that I've had enough okay because I actually want to experience more. The fifth month of the year has just started and it's the last month of the summer. I'm still looking forward to additional summer experience in the Province of Masbate.

Rodeo attire for the first Sunday of our Christian Life Program in SFC. To end this post, may I add that Masbate is the Rodeo Capital of the Philippines. I didn't include it here but Rodeo festival happens every April and I experienced it too.

Ta-ta! Don't forget to leave your comments below guys. Love love love!

Experienced what it felt like being in the pond, catching what lives there. I caught shrimps. I tried catching the fish swimming around my feet but I was afraid because it swims fast and it's also slippery. There were crabs too but I was too scared to grab a hold because of their pincers.

posted from Bloggeroid

Went to Legazpi City, Albay with him. We went there and stayed for almost a day with my mom and stepdad. Seemed like a double date. :)

posted from Bloggeroid

Selfies

These are some recent photos of mine which by the way was posted using my mobile. A blogspot app was kind of hard to find (or are there any app of this kind?) in my Android device. But after taking some trouble into checking some of the apps that came in after typing "blogspot" or "blogger" keywords in the search bar of Play Store, I give the benefit of the doubt to one of the apps, the Bloggeroid. I tried it and luckily my post went through. Thank you Bloggeroid. You're a little hard to manage but I guess I can do with it.

P.S. The photo was posted on March 23 but these texts here were typed on March 26. I posted the photo using my mobile with the aid of the app aforementioned while the explanation was made using my netbook. 

posted from Bloggeroid