Phuket Adventure Part II: Island Tour and Simon Cabaret

Today’s Thought: “It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.” - Franklin D. Roosevelt


It was a cloudy morning and it actually rained quite hard before we left the pier. But it didn’t dampen our 2^nd day adventure as we head off towards the sea and on to our sea canoeing adventure. I know PH also has beautiful caves but, as it was my first time to have a sea canoeing adventure, it was marvelous! I like the idea of lying flat on the canoe as we enter the caves. The flashlights were close to useless as it was totally dark inside. But as flashes of camera never ceased to pop up, we got a glimpse of how the caves looked like – totally eerie yet beautiful works of art. But it smelled bat poop everywhere that I breathed thru my mouth while inside these caves. I also was not sure if the water dripping from the ceiling were bat poop or just moist water. I honestly didn’t want to know. My disgust for the smell was easily lost to the breathtaking lagoon at the center of the island. There were mangrove trees and monkeys abound. One white guy said that God is truly the best architect of all – amen to that.


We went to 4 islands – Phanak Island, Hong Island, James Bond Island and Lawaya. We only had cave trips in the first two islands so I’m not sure if the popular James Bond has its caves as well. What I saw was souvenir stores within the island! We didn’t bother to check the goods they were selling as Shawie and I were busy taking pictures of ourselves. It was such a fun and hilarious moment as we took turns trying to catch each other’s jumping moment through camera. Our buffet lunch at the boat was also a delight although we didn’t have seafood except for fish. The last island, Lawaya Island, was quite a disappointment though. We spent almost an hour in Lawaya, the longest in any other islands we went to. We’re supposed to stay there for more canoeing and swimming. But my goggles and the underwater camera we bought were useless as the water was not clear and the sand had a mixture mostly of crushed pieces of shell. I don’t know whether it was because of the tsunami or because October was still a rainy season. We just contented ourselves babysitting for baby Diego, a 14 month baby of a Filipina and an Italian guy. Diego is such a cutie and so well engrossed with our colorful bright blue and yellow underwater camera. We used the film to shot Diego instead.

Went home tired and all dried up from the sea water. For dinner, we were craving for seafood and the whole place was packed with seafood choices. So the only thing we had to agree on was the ambiance to go for. It didn’t take us that long to agree that we wanted to dine in Banana Phuket. It was an open air restaurant at the back of the street and it looked cozy. It was and we weren’t disappointed with our food either. Thank goodness!

Last stop was the Simon Cabaret show. We got VIP tickets and same luck like last time; we were seated in front center. Yehey! Being picture addicts, we started taking pictures as soon as we got to the place. It’s just weird that there’s a Chinese altar by the gate entrance and a picture of their king at the hall entrance. I guess they always want Buddha and their King to bless their show and give them energy to entertain the crowd. And finally, the show every one was waiting for. It was a total cabaret show but too bad they just lip synch the songs. I’m used to gay performers in Manila belting out songs from their idols live so I was a little dismay. Most of their songs were slow and local songs. I didn’t mind it for the Fantasea cultural show but I was hoping here at Cabaret that they will imitate gay icons – Cher, Madonna, Cristina Aguilera and heck, even Britney Spears. They did a Gloria Gaynor song with mild applaud and Tina Turner to the delight of the crowd (okay, she was also my favorite). A nod on the show was the dance and song number from 2 funny gays. They weren’t sexy and pretty like the rest and that’s what their number was all about. They walked through the crowds and kissed guys and their heavy lipstick marks were left on the guys’ face. That sent the crowd to the roof laughing. As the show ended, all the lady boy performers lined up at the exit. They were encouraging people to take pictures with them, but they also asked for some money after. I didn’t have much so I just tried to take group pictures while they were busy poising for a shot with some foreigners. Kuripot, hehe.

I think the lady boys earn more in Phuket than real women whose job mostly is 200 baht worth of 1 hr Thai massage.

Phuket Adventure Part I: City Tour & Fantasea

Todays’s Thought: “To fear is one thing. To let fear grab you by the tail and swing you around is another.” - Katherine Paterson

I woke up to a beautiful Thursday morning, ready and excited about my trip to SG & Phuket. Only to be told at the airport that my multiple visa was already expired. To my shock and horror…and my fault, I just checked my working visa which is valid until April next year. The rush of blood I tell you! Felt like I’m part of Amazing Race Asia and I had to catch the next and last flight to SG that day and get my multiple entry before the immigration closes (until 2PM only since it's Ramadan). It was already 10AM and there was just no way I could make my 10:40AM flight. I had to call Shawie and tell her to reschedule our flight to Phuket as well. I guess, luck was still on my side that day so I manage to get my multiple by 1PM and just waited in my flat for the 9PM flight. Sayang, I could have been in SG that afternoon. I wanted to by a new SD for my camera before Phuket since mine always prompts an error (yes, parang PC may error message).

Shawie picked me up at Changi by midnight. And before 7am, we were at budget airport. T’was my first time to take budget airlines. It had an open tarmac so going inside the plane felt like a dramatic entrance for me. But we had to buy drinks and food inside the plane, hahaha. In fairness, the mushroom soup tasted nice, parang hindi galing sachet, lol.

9ish AM, Thailand time: The fun begins. But it was raining and the road was stiff and slippery. Shawie and I gave a sigh of relief coz we didn’t have to be driven to the hotel at midnight seeing how the road is. Kakatakot din and the driver of the van who picked us up drove like he’s having an LBM moment - lumilipad, sumisingit, parang jeep sa madaling araw! It was a 45mins drive so we just tried to enjoy the rainy scenery and chatted our way. It’s been a long while since we saw each other, bulk na ang chikka, hahaha. Halfway to our hotel, the sun welcomed us with its warmth. Yehey! So we were able to walk around a bit. It rained again but we were already on our way back to Royal Palm for a Thai massage. So relaxing at a cheap price – only 17BND.

After that soothing massage, we just changed clothes and was picked up by our tour van for buffet dinner and Fantasea show. It’s a good thing that we had a packaged tour since the van that picked us up also had to get the other tourists from other hotels. So we got to see other places in Phuket which we normally wouldn’t see coz there’s just far from us. Phuket has some of the amazing hotels ^_^.

Finally, Fantasea! Just seeing the entrance and the ticket booth is enough to take your breath away, so shinny and magnificent. Of course, Disneyland entrance is still better but Fantasea offers a different show. And EK has no chance to compete. It only has 1 wizard statue welcoming the guests where Fantasea has this Hollywood style sign and golden elephant displays at each corner of the entrance booth. And the painted ceiling tells of so many local stories pero di ko kinarir masyado, stiff neck ang magiging kapalit e.

We look around and took pictures and then headed to the Golden Kinnaree Buffet restaurant, the biggest buffet restaurant I’ve been to. It has 4,000 seating capacity. Shawie and I joked that our wedding or birthday should be held here. Bongga! Inside are statues of the mythical Kinnarees, half-bird and half-woman of legendary beauty and graciousness. So we had our dinner in a Thai mythology inspired atmosphere. Divine.

Few minutes before 9PM, the entrance at the Palace of the Elephants where the ‘Fantasy of a Kingdom’ will be shown opened. Unfortunately, no cameras were allowed and it had to be deposited at the entrance counter. On our way inside, we passed by a 2-3 booths that let you cradle baby tigers while they suck milk from a milk bottle (yes, kelangan i-mention saan) and have your picture taken. Wag n lang, takot pa din ako, hehehe. And finally the show: True to what it says in the internet, it was worth the money and the effort going there – a true Vegas style theater show with magical illusions, 4D effects, aerial performance, acrobatics, indoor pyrotechnics, special effects, elephant circus and stunts (in no particular order ha kasi minsan sama2x, ang saya!). And the stage is huge that it still has space left when all 16 elephants did their stunts. The whole show was one for the books, galing talaga. Then we felt sad realizing that PH does not have this kind of show when I’m sure we have so many talented artists. Baka walang makuhang elephants?

Lilet

Today's Thought: "It is wrong to think that love comes from long companionship and persevering courtship. Love is the offspring of spiritual affinity and unless that infinity is created in a moment, it will not be created for years or even generations" - Khalil Gibra

She was an 80’s singing child sensation that faded from the limelight as soon as she hit her teens. A picture of sweetness and innocence, but to be called as her namesake? Kebarbaridad! Hard as I look at myself in the mirror, I couldn’t see the girl, hahahaha. But that was how I was described by the pips who were at Michelle’s birthday party. She’s one of the instructors at FZ and my favorite at that. This woman kicks ass! But that’s beside the point. Me? Lilet? Should I take it as a complement or does it simply mean that I was so tame compared to the other guests there? Let me tell you the highlights of the party – daring photo shoots and body shots. Either of which I took part of but I didn’t deny that I enjoyed watching them and I had the loudest laugh (tawang bragunda sabi nga ni pareng willy). Don’t get the wrong idea coz it was clean fun regardless of the game. They were all friends there and I’m a newbie. One third of the guests were gay and the girls had an all gay attitude for fun and the guys were contented to drink and smoke and chat on the veranda, away from the photo shoots. They had to drag them one at a time and they were actually prey not predator, at least, on this party.

By 2am, the birthday girl was too drunk and begun to puke. It was time to go home for me. They had been pouring drinks non-stop since 11PM while I busy myself with the food (we had shrimp and sisig!). I didn’t want to get drunk since I still have to drive and I might get wasted that next thing I know, I’m doing body shots myself! Kebarbaridad (ulit)! hahahaha.

So I guess for that night, I was indeed Lilet.

Next Stop: Phuket

Today’s Thought: “Destiny is not a matter of chance; but a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for. It is a thing to be achieved.” - William Jennings Bryant

I am so looking forward to my next trip! My friend Shawie recently asked me if I wanted to join her for a vacation in Phuket. I have been dying to go there since I was staying in Malaysia (zeon years ago, ganun na katagal). My friends back there chickened out for whatever reason and back in PH, I was just happy to go out of town with friends. So when Shawie asked me, I said yes immediately. I checked the website for direct flights to Phuket where we could just meet but also checked flights going to SG. Thought it’s a good idea if we go to Phuket together. It’s almost the same price so I opted for choice #2. Next is to finalize the date when were going there. It’s off peak season till month of October but my concern is my impending work meetings here. Thankfully, I was able to iron out my schedule with our client but the September flights have doubled its price. So we agreed to have our Phuket tour early October instead. Now, where to stay? So many choices!

This one looks promising ^_^ and within budget. What’s more, it’s fronting the Patong beach, the biggest and most popular beach in Phuket (according to website research). I hope it looks exactly the same when we get there.

Last night before going to bed, I checked my self in the mirror (oh, for the love of vanity!) and contemplate if I should start a diet for the beach trip. But I remember my cake, my sweets and my jasmine rice…. Don’t bother, I got my gym membership anyway, hehe.

Somewhere in Between

Today’s Thought: “Everyone has some adversity. Everybody has a battle in their lives, and some are more traumatic or obvious than others. You don't necessarily have to win. You have to endure.”- Nancy Grace

No, I’m not outing myself. It was the result of the exam I recently took – EITLS, that is. Why in heaven’s sake did I take the exam? Wala lang, bakit ba? Hahahaha.

It was just a general English exam but it took half a day plus 20 minutes for the interview. Yup, may ganun pa talaga! The most difficult part was writing simply because I have not been writing through pen for a long time (thank goodness for computers and the spell checker, hehe). I felt my left arm and all my 5fingers there go numb halfway in the exam. After a week, the result (drumrolls here): 7.5. 7 is Good User and 8 is Very Good User while 9 is the highest or Excellent User. So I’m somewhere between a good a very good user. I was actually hoping for an 8 and above average but not bad I guess.

Before this, I was dead serious reviewing for another exam. I honestly felt that I damaged my eyesight with my 50 pages per day quota that I sought an eye doctor. They had this machine which will diagnose the eyes and print the result (who can contest the outcome with that?). It said my eyesight is perfect and my eyes were just way too tired. But sadly, that exam was postponed and was rescheduled 2 months before the original exam date. Maybe it wasn’t meant for me. Or maybe I’m being tested. Or maybe life sucks sometimes and my exam took a big hit. I could accept the change in schedule but what broke my heart was the fact that I only knew about the cancellation 3 days before the exam date. And I would not have known it had I not called the test center here to verify the exam location. For an international certification organization that puts focus on CIA and has a lot of integrity, this just sucks. And I didn’t receive any apologies or clarification why it was cancelled. I’ve written emails day after day to no avail. So I decided after 2 weeks to just reimburse. And of course, it took 2 months to get my money back. My friends were already teasing me that it might be a hoax site because I paid online (and it wasn’t cheap). What a big disappointment it was. It’ll definitely take a while before I’ll consider taking cissp again. Where did I put that money on instead? My PH vacation, hehe.

Ay Caramba!

All for nothing?

The Manila Standard rejected Malu Fernandez' resignation and Malu called the bloggers who hurled back at her a "lynch mob". I thought this only happens in Philippine politics. Reading PDI on a daily basis made me thought most local newspapers carry the same integrity and intelligence as this newspaper has. Nevermind the tabloids, but Manila Standard? All respect crumbles.

I support the call to boycott Manila Standard newspaper and web link. I've said my opinion about her, I won't waste another space. Just trying to reach out to friends and inform them not to support this newspaper.

Transformers Pinoy Style

Today's Thought: "One shall stand, one shall fall" - Optimus Prime

Thanks to my friend Pam for forwarding these pics - trully Pinoy style. I love to share with you all.

The buses can be a menace in EDSA but they sure saved me a lot of times whenever they fly their way off to coastal road, the Mother of all traffic. I learned how to sleep standing up, how to sqeeze in, hold on to a steel bar for balance, pay the conductor and try to review for the exams - all at the same time, while the bus jerks off the highway.


Tatak Pinoy. Miniature copies of these are popular souveneir gifts to friends living abroad and foreigners who are fascinated by this means of transportation. Back in my town, hometown of Sarao jeep, no undecorated jeepney can be seen. You cannot have passengers if yours is not as colorful and well adorned as the rest are. The students simply won't bother. The turn off though is the load music. I swear I thought I lost my sense of hearing more than twice. And for the upgraded version, check out the aircon jeeps in Makati. Not as festive but definitely convenient.

A better alternative to buses and are most common for short distance travel. Just pray that the fx actually has a working ac and I'd rather not take the middle seat for the horror of being squeezed with 3 other passengers. It is really most uncomfortable pero kelangan kumita ni manong...



Our baranggay never had this transpo. But watching the police news on tv, you see these Brgy. Patrol cars typically loaded with illegal stuffs the Barangay Tanods seized from poor vendors or with robbers, snatchers, rugby boys or men and women with ashen faces (the latter usually caught skulking the dark corners of red districts).



This must be God's answers to every working parents' wish to make sure someone drives their kids to and from school. It'll be just a waste of fuel and an addition to the monster traffic that requires a lot of effort to do this job on your own. Unless of course, you are the bus driver. But here, parents are so lucky to excuse themselves earlier than the usual lunch break to fetch their kids and return a bit late coz they drove their kids back to school and get away with it.

Oh my gosh. This gives the same level of challenge and difficulty as the bus. It also tests your endurance to a variety of nauseating stench from Pasay to Monumento and back. Good thing the MRT is way better than LRT. I love the convenience of MRT and the thought that I can just go to Shangri-la and Ayala all in 20minutes. MRT2 is not that bad either although I took it just once. But my heart goes to the people who have to take the old train (the one that passes through Manila - Buendia, I forgot the name). Really a pity.



I have tons of cab stories. I have a love and hate relationship with them. I hate them mostly during rush hour when they choose their passengers, ask for extra payment because the gasoline is expensive, or because the area where I'm going to is traffic. Hell, I too am affected with the price hikes you know. And where in Manila can you find a place that is not congested with traffic? come on man! But I have one experience that I will never forget. I left my laptop inside the taxi and he, with his friend driver, returned it back to me! See, I took the cab with my friend and I was the 1st one to get off. After the driver dropped my friend, he went to the gas station and saw a thin black folder. He realized that it was a laptop and decided to call his friend for help. It was already pass 3am. They went back to my friend's house, waited until it was past 5am so as not to wake him up so early and asked him to tell them where my address was again. Di daw matutumbasan ng pera ang kunsensya. Never asked for anything in return and would not even accept the gas money I assumed he used driving back and forth to my and my friends' place. His friend driver, he proudly tells me, returned a huge amount of dollars from a balikbayan they picked up at the airport. Went all the way back to Bulacan to return it. There are still good manong drivers out there.



Only in the Philippines. They come in different shapes, some are bigger and carry up to 5 passengers comfortably while the regular ones can have 4 passengers at one go. I grew up with these tricyles. The colors represent their organization and the scope of their route. Pretty clever. Their toughest competitor are the pedicabs - nature friendly, cheaper for the driver since no gas is needed but requires all the driver's musles to move through the streets (hence its more expensive than tric) and a most favorable ride if your area is flooded.