Hundred Days of Summer

I've been to my second summer destination! I just couldn't let the very long weekend pass without having another island to discover.

I never thought that this getaway would push through. I swear I wanted to cut myself into two when I found out that my family had last minute plans of going to Cavite. I had my things packed a day before Saturday and I was so freaking ready for the beach. Not that I chose to be with Paolo's family but I already gave my word that I'd be joining them. I did. My family's so understanding.

As we all know, getting to Pangasinan usually takes 4-6 hours but it took us 8 long hours! We stayed at Tropical Island Resort located at Tondol Beach in Anda Island. I had no photo to show you on how good-looking this island is especially on low tide but when you Google it, this will be one of the results:

Crystal clear water with white sand and it's at its best during low tide. Unfortunately, we went there on a holiday hence a crowded place. Tondol Beach isn't fully developed yet. I might go back here to see how it looks like during off peak where garbage is less visible and seaweeds/grasses are more... manageable.

Anda is right in between Hundred Islands and Bolinao (AHHHH NEXT TIME, BOLINAO! I SWEAR!!!). On our second day, we went to Hundred Islands--the main reason why we went to Pangasinan.

At Anda Port going to Hundred Islands!

With my boyfriend who's gaining weight! Haha!

With Deedee, Paolo's niece. She's already a grownup! ♥

From Anda Island, it took us 30 minutes to get to Quezon Island, one of the few islands in Hundred Islands National Park where guests are welcomed to swim. On our way there, we saw the many other islands which complete the hundred! Two of the notable ones are:

Turtle Island

I don't know the name of this island but I call it the hippo island. :)

I expected a large number of crowd and I was right. But it surprised me even more to find out that the island is loaded with sari-sari stores. It quite turned me off. I hope someone from the DOT or the local government would try to fix minor problems like this. A beautiful place like Hundred Islands deserves intensive care. 

For five minutes I dipped in the sea. Paolo and I also kayaked, resulting to sore muscles and body pains. The crowd is bearable but it's uncomfortable for me to leave my things somewhere while beating the heat away. We just took photos instead, went up the rocky hills and enjoyed the view.

What I wore: Sunkissed animal prints bikini, Betty satin pants.

Good to find out there's a clam-viewing area where guests are not allowed to swim but taking photos is fine! :)

At the clam-viewing area.

All the other islands behind me!

I know I'm gaining weight. Lalalala. I'm trying hard to bring back my Puerto Galera body!!!

Family picture with our daughters Deedee and Julianna. :P

Sad to say, we only stayed there for two hours. We had to go back to Tondol before the sunset. We killed time by jumping and jumping and jumping to starve ourselves and to give bigger space for our dinner: crabs, shrimps, crabs and shrimps.

Here are the two of my favorite jump shots:

SOAR HIGH!!!!

Lack of photos, I know! Apologies, but I enjoyed too much time there with no camera and iPhone in my hands!

♥,

Marianne

2011, A Year Of Friendship

Friendship. Such a fragile word for me. I have always been so sensitive when it comes to friendship for all relationships should be founded by this. In my life, I have built a wonderful, unyielding friendship with my family. Then here comes an affectionate friendship we foster with our partners, our significant others. And lastly, the basic friendship we develop with our circles, our friends--the family we have chosen. Therefore, friendship is love. We can never say we love these people until we establish the kind of friendship we have with them.

My 2011 took me to a roller coaster ride. I've touched the clouds, felt the ground, floated in the midair, twisted me into the loops and oops of life but in the end, my safety belt buckled up by people who love me faithfully kept me alive. I almost gave up, but I was secured by the kinds of friendship I just defined. And just like any other rides, roller coaster rides come to an end. It stops on the right time. And it's up to you if you're willing to take risks and want to ride again.

If I were to answer my own question, yes, I want to ride again. There must be some views I missed because I'm too scared so I closed my eyes. Who knows, I might be braver this time.

Friendship rekindled, friendship rediscovered. New-found friendship, friendship wiped out. Best friendship remains. Welcome to my 2011.

It's quite challenging for me to post this year-ender blog. First, I don't know how to start and second, I have a lot of things to note I don't know which to prioritize. I don't want to call this the best of my 2011 because clearly, I share even my saddest emotions. Let's just go with the flow. But nonetheless, this is also my way of saying THANK YOU.

 I've been to a beautiful island called Guimaras.

This 2011, I turned a year old in the good hands of TV5.

Rachel and I have finally patched things up.

We also celebrated Mom and Dad's 30th wedding anniversary this year.
I watched Justin Bieber's concert without dropping a Hamilton.
And this year, I finally step a foot on SoFA.
I got to see the NBA superstars like Kobe Bryant and Derrick Rose in real life for free and Kobe was this close to me.
My dream of becoming a fashion stylist happened in collaboration with my favorite online brands Royal Kouture, MARiS and Loca Trends.
For the first time in my life, I went to Puerto Galera and braved the strong winds and waves on our way there.
Also, Resorts World Manila brought my forever favorite The Sound Of Music. I can't describe the feeling!
2011 is really a year of firsts. My college friend Kim tied the knot with her long time boyfriend, Mon. She became my first girl friend who walked down the aisle.
Another first is my first beach trip with my high school best friends Mika, Maro and Ailyn. We went to Boracay in one, two, three, four days!

I went to places I've never been, met new people and called them good friends.

Two of the best highlights of my 2011 is my 23rd birthday. I threw a party and asked my guests to wear something with animal prints on it. Truly, they made the night I turned 23 memorable. Turning another year older is always wonderful, just like when Paolo and I turned seven.

So many things to be thankful for! I can't even enumerate all so if I missed something, it doesn't mean I forgot you. I'm just too clouded on what to prepare tonight and I'm not feeling well.

But here's a special shout out. My 2011 is dedicated to all my friends. It's a year of friendship and I look forward to spend the same, best times with these people who love me unconditionally without judging me, without asking for anything in return. They know who they are. :)

Cheers to 2011 and 2012!

♥,

A Little Girl's Game

I'm a proud wanderlust but there are moments I want to cancel all my plans and just stay at home, read a book, spend time in my room alone or do nothing at all. It's not about being lazy, but I guess this is normal especially to those who love going out and hanging out with friends and loved ones. My body deserves a break, I must say and I bet everyone agrees. The weather is also a factor why I chose to stay in this past weekend. I cancelled my Christmas shopping plan last Saturday and ditched the picnic plan in Tagaytay with my cousins yesterday (they went without me hahaha I'm not that special, FYI). So I bonded with my Mom, went to the spa with my Dad last night and treated him for a massage...  but before that, I found the chance to try the new eyeshadow palette I got from e.l.f. last Wednesday.

I tried to apply the smokey eye effect on me for the second time and I guess it's quite successful. Kudos to Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual book! It's very useful even for beginners like me. The instructions given are not difficult to understand. But I was such a loser for failing to get decent photos of myself due to bad lighting, camera shaking and reasonssss. I tried using my camera and my phone but all photos are still lame. The best ones I can show you are from my Photo Booth. Heee at least I have some to show you! :)

It's good for a starter like me! I claim it!

I have to work on my brows, though.

 

 

Wind effect!

 

 

Reasons of my desires.

 

Emooooote!

My eyes are really not noticeable unless you see it for real. Maybe next time I'll ask a good photographer to do me a favor and take good photos for me in a nice lighting spot. And oh, if you're wondering why I made A Little Girl's Game a title, it's because I felt like a little girl drooling over her Mom's makeup collection, put its shimmer onto her face, in her Hello Kitty shirt.

Have a great Monday morning and have a happy week ahead! :)

♥,

Puerto G! Again

Welcome to the second half of my recent Puerto Galera trip. This is the best Monday and Tuesday to date for it did not seem to be a regular work day at all. Imagine you're in a beach and not in your usual work place? Definitely the good life we all deserve!

We all had a fun night last Sunday at The Outrigger Bar with Pia, David, Tin and Soyti plus the beckies we just met there. We spent the night drinking and us girls drowned our system with Puerto Galera's infamous Mindoro Sling which I didn't know, was made of Tanduay Rhum!!! I guess we finished more than three pitchers, so I had the -est hangover the following day. As I've mentioned in my previous post, I puked three times and spent the entire Monday morning sleeping to scratch that dizzy feeling off my head.

When we felt better during late afternoon, we went out to look for another fresh fruit shake vendor and made use of our remaining time wisely and happily in the island. We couldn't believe we're leaving soon, time really flies fast when you're having fun.

Photos while waiting for our mango shake.

Paolo and I went to the other side of White Beach and discovered a stall which sells yummier fruit shakes than Mikko's and they serve hotdogs and barbecues too! I forgot its name (bleh) but it is located in White Beach Hotel (don't get confused there's White Beach Hotel and there's White Beach Resort).

Paolo has evolved from being a camera shy to a camera wh*re!

I so really love these photos of the boyfriend. He used to be so conscious whenever I take pictures of him in the past but now, I can say that he doesn't mind it anymore. His newest mantra? "Kapag tumanda ka, maghahanap ka ng picture mo na bata ka pa. [Magsisisi ka 'pag wala kasi hindi mo mapapakita kung gano ka ka-gwapo]."

Two thumbs up!

Stolen ♥

Bows, buttons, feathers and colors.

Us. ♥

We sat down for a while because I felt a bit dizzy again. Haha stup hangover! But I really cherish the moment with the boyfriend talking about anything under the sun, facing the sea, looking at the sunset and listening to the soft splash of waves in front of us.

Enjoying the sunset view.

I guess I'm loving red.

Paolo after his plunge.

We saw Kong once again so he took photos of us. Thanks, Kong! :)

The wind gave us a sticky feeling so we decided to go back to our hotel. We prepared ourselves for our last night. I decided to skip drinking MINDORO SLING that time because I'm scared to miss our early morning boarding time off to Batangas the next day.

Dinner at Hiyas Angeline.

What I love about Puerto Galera is that the meals there are priced the right way. Each meal costs less than Php 350, good for two to three persons unlike Boracay, Palawan and other famous beach resorts. Not to mention that the foods taste like real food, like no preservatives at all, and are fresh and delicious! Really!

All of us Outigger-ed the night once again! I vowed not to drink again so I just had iced tea for myself. Everyone felt closer with each other especially the beckies who stopped calling us "ma'am" and instead called us by our names or "girl", I love it!

Paolo and David.

I'm really glad that the boys got along so well together there. We all have common friends (at third degree, perhaps), and I love discovering how small the world is! Soyti and Paolo are probably textmates by now coz the latter just asked for the former's mobile number. Cute!

(THEY) DREAMGIRLS: Lady Gaga, Beyonce Knowles and Katy Perry!

These guys also thought of a silly idea! They dressed up as girls and borrowed the beckies' clothes! They had a mini-fashion show, watched by a big crowd! They also had a dance number where they performed Katy Perry's California Girls! They are so adorable!!!

As usual, we went back to the hotel late, we only had less than three hours to doze off. We even haven't packed our things and traveling with the boyfriend always feels like traveling with a child. You pack and fix all their stuff like a real housewife does with her husband. ALWAYS. How lucky could men get?

Rocking the boat.

Got up by 6:00 AM to have our super early breakfast and left the island by 8:00 AM. We chose to depart early because the locals there said that the sea is calmer in the morning and we have anticipated the traffic and the mad rush hour of everyone who came from a long weekend vacation.

Our official last photo from the entire trip.

I really, really love our Puerto Galera trip! The memories we had and the people we met there will be forever cherished. The boat ride I experienced going to the island is the bravest thing I ever did so far! I felt like a real survivor and I somehow faced my fear of... well, waves!

Am forever loving the beach and expect to see (and read) more beach travels from me in the future!

♥,