Boracay

I started this year with a list of resolutions– one of which was to travel more locally and to (re) visit the island of Boracay.

1st week of August, opportunity presented itself to me when 2 of my american seniors arrived for a visit, was looking for a weekend getaway and wanted to go to Boracay. Then we found out that the Caticlan Airport (closer to the island) was shut down for renovation and that we had no choice but go through 2 hour travel from Kalibo airport to the Ferry station. (oh, joy.)

Not a lot of people go to Boracay this windy time of the year. Popularly dubbed as “net season” because of the nets they put up in between the beach and the restaurants/hotels strip. They did this because the  sands are  easily blown all over the place because of strong winds… strong winds ergo strong waves–  we were unfortunate enough to experience such a shaky ferry ride. It was the first time i remember feeling seasick and close to throwing up.

Traveling mishaps aside, we all arrived to a beautiful island. The color of the water is unforgettable and the peace and tranquility you get of walking on the beach before sunrise is priceless. 

Would be fun to try to go there with family, friends or loved ones– that way I can enjoy Boracay without having to worry about being a tour guide at the back of my head. LOL

 

Yeah, im definitely going back there.

 

Singapore Loves (2)

To continue my selected picture sharing..

Singapore reminds me of Thailand in the aspect of food. The variety of cultures living in the country helped pave the way to different cuisines.. Different and DELICIOUS cuisines.

HoKien Prawn mee.. really good noddles and chilli sauce

The Milo Dinosaur. Fell in love with this beverage.. i cant believe we dont have it in the philippines. It was sooo easy to make. I make one regularly at home.

Here’s an improvised Indian Dish — The Chocolate prata. It is just your usual Roti Prata turned into a desert by adding chocolate inside and drizzling it with chocolate syrup. sooo decadent!

The Famous Nasi Lemak. I had to try it after seeing it numerous times in AFC. It was as good as I imagined it.

I have a thing for cats so when i saw singapore had stray cats looking like this, I had to take a picture. Seriously, that IS a stray cat.

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And there’s always the shopping side of Singapore! Well, compared to other SEA countries i’ve been in, their prices can be pretty expensive.. But there are some places you can get the best deals from– you just gotta know where to look. 

 

 

Singapore Loves (1)

As part of my yearly out- of-the-country routine, I decided to visit Singapore and see what was the big deal about it. I have a bunch of old colleagues who opted to work and live there so going there for me was pretty easy– only had to worry about my plane fare and my pocket money.

Singapore is in Southeast Asia –ergo, didnt require a visa.. but being classified as  1st world,  soon enough, even fellow SEA citizens will be required to get one to visit the country.

Im naming my succeeding posts “Singapore Loves” as most will feature different weird, unique and great things to love about the place and make me come back for more.  I took approximately 163 photos (okay, i took 324 but screened 163 good ones–vanity speaks! haha).

Let me begin by shocking y’all traditional people out there. Some Singapore public comfort rooms give you the option to “Squat” or “Sit”. The Sit part is your traditional toilet format. The Squat one will look like this:

Weird, huh? And yet most locals prefer it– probably for some non-comfort related reason. Okay, “nuff said.

• The biggest Ferris-wheel i’ve ever seen in my entire life, I found in Singapore.– The Singapore Flyer is a MUST when you go to SIngapore.  It literally looks like the ferris-wheel in theme parks. Just bigger! much much BIGGER. Each glass capsule can carry as much as 8 people and the 30 minute ride gives you a 360 view of Singapore. From the top, I saw how close Singapore was from Malaysia and Indonesia. In my opinion, it’s better to go there during the day– towards sunset (the sun doesnt set til 6:30ish in singapore) so you can see more of the buildings, the shoreline and watch the sunset with various spectrums of light on the horizon. .

• Another MUST is to visit the Merlion in Merlion park. You havent been to Singapore if you havent had a picture of Merlion spitting water. SIngaporeans are so proud of their Merlion that they place him in every souvenir available– keychains, shirts, decorative plates, even merlion-shaped cookies and chocolates! I like the Merlion better in the nighttime.

• One of the best highlights of my visit was when I took the Extreme Swing/Bunjee Challenge at Clark Quay. Classified as an extreme sport activity, you get placed in an open capsule with rubber suspensions then you get thrown up into the air like a slingshot and as you’re suspended up and down bouncing, the capsule rotates. Take note, its an OPEN capsule with straps supporting you. I screamed my lungs out– and my friends got some really scared and ugly pictures of me (which im not posting by the way.) sooo extreme– fun to do and conquer your fears every now and then.

More to follow!

 

scooter trouble

After spending a week in singapore, I get back home to good ol’ philippines.

A day after I get back, I cross the street and a scooter runs me over. I was blind-sided, I still cant believe i didnt see it coming.  I fell on the concrete asphalt road and as a trained judoka, I fell not breaking any bones to break my fall– but got a deep gash on my elbow– a chunk of skin missing. ugh.

Luckily, this dude was a nurse who was on his way home from night duty. So he brought me back to the hospital where he works, cleaned my wounds (very painful by the way), stitched a couple, injected me with toxoid and bought all the necessary meds i needed.

A lot of people said I was lucky he was  a nurse– and that he didnt run away. A few said i shouldve asked him to pay for damages– really, what “damages”?

Suffice to say, I was thankful he took care of everything. And thankful nothing worse progressed from my body after the “accident”.

I’m just bitchy for not being able to train for almost 2 weeks now. I’ve been push-kicking my walls like crazy and just miss training.

Nick will be leaving for Bangkok this Friday for the Asian Martial Arts Games.  And my american bosses will be here next week and will be going with them to Boracay the weekend after that–

Hopefully I have enough stuff to do to keep me busy and not make me miss him too much.

 

sigh

 

random musings

Leaving for  singapore tomorrow morning.. for 6 days.  save for my old friends and the bungee jumping at Clarkquay, i dont know what else is there to be excited over.

Facebook ought to be called “Crackbook”.

it’s been raining too often lately– i wouldve loved each instance it pours–except that it makes it too lazy to move. Must-get-up-from-this-bed.

my american bosses are coming over this august– decided they want to go to Boracay with me and my staff  then I find out the Caticlan airport is busted. ohh joy.

should hire 2 more for the department — to compensate for the expansion.

Nick is 3-0 (3wins- 0 loss) so far this year. he’s got Asian Martial Arts Games,  Asian Indoor Games, Asian championship and SEA Games lined up this year. And that’s aside from the minor semi-pro fights on the side. I wish him a perfect season. .:D

Yeah, and im still wishing he doesnt get too injured in any of his fights. *fingers and toes crossed

Will be planning my Phuket and HK trip immediately after I get back from Singapore. (november-ish)

I still think the “Megan Fox is a tranny” rumor is true. HAHA!

I’m still waiting on my sugar to cooperate so I can get my next tattoo. That Tengwar cursive  is making me itch. LOL

 

blah

So the month continues to drag.

Been busy at work — for the past week working has repetitiously caused me to  look forward of the same thing everyday– to go home  from the office, take a looong shower, watch TV  and flop on my bed till i fall sleep with the TV on.

I needed cheering up so I scanned the net looking for my good ol’ buddies, Calvin and Hobbes

 

Yeah, moms can be pretty cool sometimes. =========================================

I admire people who have but simple dreams and wants. Those whom you know are genuinely happy with what they have

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This one was probably taken from Calvin’s Transmogrifier series wherein Calvin “invented” a box which can transform him into whatever he wants to be. This is just so cute.

 

 

TAG! THEY’RE Inked! (5)

May started as a pretty busy month for me.  Being a secondary sponsor for 2 consecutive weddings,  heading a company-wide contest for 250+ people at work, my aunt from australia arriving for a vacation, my mom celebrating her 59th birthday, my best friend from college and my mom visiting all the way from their provinces and there’s always the never-ending tweaking around my new place.

Halfway into the month and the second half of which is promising to be a fairly light series of events.  ( i hope)

Amidst all the ruckus though, I ran into and met people with Inks I just had to take pictures of. Check them out:

 

“Adversity builds Character” is what Hazel’s Kanji tattoo translates to. Even in a flowing dress during the wedding, she definitely rocked her tattoo.

 

If you’re an anime enthusiast, this tattoo will look very familiar to you. One of my best friends from college, LN finally caught the tattoo bug and decided to have the Avatar: the last Airbender element symbols inked on his lower back. I’ve had my Avatar or Anime craze days myself so I can definitely relate to it. (good thing I didnt end up tattooing “TAMAHOME” on me, huh?haha! )  From the upper left clockwise the symbols represent Water, Earth, Fire and Air. I’m sooo proud of you LN!

 

I started joining afternoon training for muaythai (for the shallow reason that the mornings are held on hours when the sun is UP and my vain self hates exposing herself around free radicals. ). It was a pretty good move coz I met a lot of people, made new friends– and met the dude who owns this Tibetan tattoo.  “Om mani Padme hum” or “All Hail the Lotus Flower” is inked on Dex’s forearm.  But it doesnt end there. Here’s another tattoo:

It’s a pretty detailed tattoo of Ganesh on his left foot. Ganesh is a popular deity in Hinduism and is believed to be a “remover of obstacles” and more generally the “Lord of beginnings”. I asked Dex if he was Hindu but was told he wasnt and that different beliefs just fascinate him. I know how that feels.  Pretty cool tattooes– i’m sure i’ll see more new ones next time!

Til the next series of pictures! I’m sure there are ink masterpieces waiting to be shared out there.

 

 

 

TATTOO DADDY (TAG!You’re inked 4)

I mentioned  in my earlier post that I had some new tattoo pictures I’m excited to brag about. So let’s start with my friend, Neil.

Neil has over 5 tattooes (sorry dude, i lost count haha) and majority of which are names of his little ones. I could pretty much say he’s been “around” hearing all the good stuff stories he tells us during our drinking sessions. . hahaha!

This is Neil’s first tattoo..Those days when the SUN was such a cool tattoo object. LOL 

 

Neil and his angel   

 

Neil’s angels…Some of his kids dont live with him and Its sweet how he inked their names coz it makes him closer to them.

This one is for kurt neihlle

This is for ian,mhai, knox, kyle and keigh

And this is for Sean nikole

Whew! A proud dad,a proud ink owner… kudos to you, Neil.

 

-Romnick-

What better title for a post about my boyfriend than his name?

A sport I love brought me the man I love. Geesh, why didnt that happen when I was in judo (all those AUGIE days!)

Romnick.. When I first met him i thought:

 (1) he was gay… must’ve been because i KNOW he plucks his eyebrows, shaves his legs, or maybe because he was goofing around Jay (one of our gym instructors) or must’ve been because of the headband he wore everytime he’s training. 

this picture is all i have with him wearing a headband. NOTE the headband! NOT the ABS! haha!

(2) if he was gay, he was a gay who could really kick ASS. It didnt dawn on me he was part of the Philippine Team til I saw him train. His kicks  could seriously hurt someone.

(3) he was wayyy too friendly to women so he couldn’t be gay. Let’s just say 90% of his facebook and friendster population consist of women. HAHAHA! 

(4) he was rude enough to tell me he thought I was 29 years old. (seriously made me want to get BOTOX right then and there) Which he makes worse by calling me “29″ everytime he saw me .. GRRR..

Here’s our first picture together. He said “ma’am Kim, picture tayo” hahaha!

 (5) He’s cute, he looked nice– okay he looked HOT! — then again, i’ve seen his “jock type” before so I was  trying so hard not to like him.

I wont bore you with the mushy details. But to make it short, I didnt imagine someone like him was the epitome of what Filipinos call “probinsyanong torpe”. took him a while to tell me he liked me.  Took him a while to ask me to be his girlfriend– if it was some “game plan” of his, I dont know..But what’s important is I found it adorable and hey, he won me over. haha!

Oh and by the way, he shaved his head after I told him I thought he was gay when I first saw him. my opinion, he looks better with this ‘do.

 

 

He’s the complete opposite of what most people think of him. Knowing him proved me wrong in some assumptions I made about him.

(1) he’s not gay. oh BELIEVE me he’s not. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

(2) he’s the most down-to earth boyfriend I’ve ever had. He’s simple when he expresses himself. no strings and bullshit attached, he’ll tell you what he knows and feels and you know it’s from his heart. Oh-kay… mushy moment, so sue me. HAHA!

(3) He called his family just to introduce me to everyone. Uncle, cousins, mom, dad, sister, lolo, etc. It impressed me how close he is to his family and how well he was brought up by his parents. Will be going home with him this year to meet everyone. His sister and mom are like my BFFs now.

(4) What people describe to be his pompous, arrogant self is him sharing what he knows about muay thai and martial arts– he has more experience in them than people twice his age do. He knows what he’s doing and haters just cant take it.

So bottomline, I’m happy. And this goth is definitely in love.

 

2 whole months after…

..I write a new post after all the procrastination.

I have a few tattoo pictures I’ve yet to brag about. And a few personal updates you’ve yet to know (if you havent known about it yet) . ha ha ha.

Good news is, life has been kind enough to balance the good and the bad in my life. So simply put, here’s what has been going on or has happened:

(1) I have a new boyfriend. ergo the happiness. Details to follow.

(2)  my nephew just graduated from Grade School, which means potentially more expenses for me and more emotional ruckus for my mom whilst he goes into the rough and tumble of “puberty” haha! :p

 (3) RIA– one of my closest friends from college is actually getting married making me one her principal sponsors (which has NEVER happened to me before)

(4) My young cousin, Kerville is also getting married (take note, both weddings in MAY! IS THIS A SIGN???) ;        

 (5)  I’m still waiting to fight  my first muay thai fight. Doctor says I shouldn’t yet for 6 months after the whole “black eye”  incident (which by the way resulted to conjunctival hemorrhage watchamacallit for a few weeks)

(6) Speaking of muay thai, the President of Muay Philippines, Robert Valdez was murdered last February 21. I was unfortunate enough to be in the gym when it happened. It was traumatizing for a while. Then I realized a man who loves muaythai as much as he does wouldve wanted nothing more than to see people who love muaythai continue practicing it.

(7) I’ve officially ended a 4 year and 6 months relationship– I say “officially” with a series of complicated criteria and standards under it.

(8) I’m seriously comtemplating moving to another place.  Prolly somewhere around the same area.

(9) It’s Holy Week and once again I’m feeling how it drags its feet into my life this week. ugh. No offense to the devout ones but I havent gotten over how unfair it is for non-christians like me. :p

 

LOVE as we know it

Consider this post an expression of my pre-Valentine jitters.

At this point, I have reduced love to a feeling without expectations.

Love as i know it is:

* What evoked Ria and Bryan  to finally decide to tie the knot.

* What got Jane smiling and glowing like ive never seen her before

* What turned LN to a lovesick puppy– which later on made him realize of  his capacity to tolerate its limits as well.

* And finally– love as i know it is what im feeling for someone I cant yet commit to.Love  which i hope will give him the strength to wait and be patient while i sort things out.

 

TAG! you’re inked (3)

  To continue on with what i’ve started, here’s a couple more…

I found this “evil leaf” (go figure) on my friend, Bong’s shin. According to him, if his tatoo was going to have a sensitive propaganda about it, might as well place it on a body part where he has the luxury to both flaunt and hide it.

It was done by the same artist who tattooes P.O.T. 

 

 

 

I’ve had Japanese, alibata and biomech tattooes here– allow me to add one of Polynesian design. Mike, another muay thai brother was hiding this pretty ink under his sleeved shirts. (shame on you!)

 

 

More to follow!

 

FUgly Day.

It’s one of those days you cant wait to put an end to. wishing the clock moved faster so you can just sleep it off for a better day. 

 I woke up today learning one of my close friends got into a friggin car accident thus starting the day crying over something I know I cant change. On my way downstairs from my room, I slipped and double sprained (if there was such a thing) my ankle. After training, I got this obscene swollen bruise –on my left cheek of all places (the HORROR!)  and still had to drag my ass to work to do damage control over some unmanned reports. — And that’s just the shorter version of this stupid day.

10:37 PM and I’m ready to close this day and charge it to my so-called “bad karma” days. 

In an effort to end it in a positive note before i tuck in, I turned to my 2 favorite comic series– Calvin and Hobbes/Garfield. Old school comics  just have an unspoken appeal that can entertain you in a way that TV cant. (or is that just my age talking?)

Share a few laughs with me, will you?

 

Inspired by Jane’s “Murder by Numbers” post.  Another one of those philosophical rag tag of Calvin & hobbes that seem to make sense—

 Some of us after all are self- confessed Math-atheists.

 

 

 

 

** Back in College, we had a pet cat–an orange tabby who at some point was Pseudo-garfield. We called him Kyou-kun.  I miss him. And if I had a son, I’d want him to be as much of a runt and as smart as Calvin.

Never fails.

 Good night world. I look forward to a better day.

 

Tag! You’re INKED!(2) : From Singapore w/ LOVE

The recently concluded Tattoo Conference in Singapore was not only remarkable to select world-known tattoo artists but also for my close friend, Ria.

Although I was the first to get a tattoo in our college “posse”, I always knew Ria was bound to get inked.

This lady has got to be one of the most eccentric people I know. I’ve been fortunate enough to have witnessed her transform herself from one anime character  to another — from one Jrocker to another and be so good at it that she had a batch of copycats on campus. ^_^ This in mind, it didnt surprise me how tantamount to her personality her ink was– done by Ricky Sta. Ana of skinworkz.

The fighting fish– in some cultures is considered an emblem for strength in solitude. Having 2 of those in one tattoo is rare for me. But meaningful enough to speak of how even the strongest, loneliest souls in this life still deserve to and will eventually find someone. (shit, tinamaan ako dun)

 

The characters below the fishes mean “Focus” and”determination to succeed” in Japanese.

Notice how the colors bring this whole tattoo to life. just wicked.

P.S.
RIa met Chris Garver in the conference– Being a big fan of Miami Ink, I HAD to post his picture here.
Boy, those tattooes are hot!!! I’d love to see him without his shirt on! Hahahah ^_^

 

muay thai at random (1)

Someone (itago nalang natin sa pangalang Nick) went all trigger – happy with my camera in training today. ^_^

He got some pretty good shots. So allow me to share a few of them.   (THanks, Nick! First muay thai and now photography! haha)

 

And i had to post this because im vain. After training, teaching Irish, (one of our coach’s daughters) how to manipulate my ipod video. Great shots, Nick!  =)