misstinapie

I am for the most part, a proud member of #TitasOfManila*. So when I started reading this I can't help but be disgusted over the acts of (the main character who is also the narrator) Sam and her friends. All those drinking, perverted mouths and shallow problems kept on piling on top of each other it's too hard to read. My officemate who always recommends me books couldn't stand it and gave up early on so she was surprised to learn I was still on it. She'd probably be more if I told her I've just finished it today. Random things to mention: Reading it now bothers me to even read Mary J Blige and other 90s early 2000s artists mentioned. But knowing now that the book is almost 8 years old, I realize the importance of keeping the era on which you are writing not as specific as possible. I stayed for Kent McFuller. Come to think of it, he's the poster boy for the guy who eternally loves the girl lead no matter what. I kind of hate that kind of character but for m...

Last last week have been a blur. It consisted of checkups, medicines and pains in between. It all started when I had diarrhea on a weekend and everything after that was just pain. I was only in the office for 2 days! In that one week I've probably had my quota of medicines for a year, I've maxed out my HMO and my boyfriend is vindicated on what he suspected for so long-- high cholesterol. Yes that's a photo of a coral. I've tried looking for an image of a polyp both found in the body and otherwise and none of it doesn't look appealing nor trigger my fear of holes. Speaking of suspicions, my last talk with a gastro (FINALLY! How can they be so rare?) has not yet confirmed on what has really transpired to me that week. My ultrasound looks good except for two things: I have a small polyp that is not a verified gallstone and a fatty liver. She was saying that it's either I have an ulcer or this is really a small gallstone I'm harboring. What made her suspicious ...

While browsing I saw a PAL ad on seat sales for this year. I know I am not allowed to even look (I promised Reagan I would not book anything again) but seeing that the travel dates is up to Dec 30 of this year, I thought it would be safe to look into it since it is 10 months away (and I would like to make it a thing to go on a birthday leave). Initially I went on to Beijing but there were no seats left. I tried Xiamen though I'm not sure what to see there but even then still no results. After trying Chinese countries that either I haven't heard before or none left, I ended up going to SkyScanner to look for what is still available on my preferred dates. That's when I saw that if I book now, we can get 6k++ tickets via Eva Air to Taiwan! I was so excited I immediately looked for possible places to go. No beach / water places - check; Trains - check; Food - check; Museums - check!! And then on one of my scrolls I saw Taiwan Receipt Lottery. It piqued my interest and went on t...

+ GAP Farm: Land of Promise + This was mentioned to us by the taxi driver when we arrived and never would have thought of it again until it was mentioned again by Sir Edison. He wasn't as chatty as Sir Diego but all the same his suggestions are more than welcome. The only places I thought we'd be going to today are just the Bone Museum and the Crocodile Park so adding this have brought another smile at my face! If you've ever been to any old school park, THIS IS EXACTLY IT! They have those concrete statues in brightly colored paint with features that are bad copies of the originals. It is also a bit unkempt (well maintenance?) but I bet on a good day teachers and families would have a good time here. It is a huge park, it's not hard to imagine that it has seen pretty good days. There are also so many places to hang out, a swimming pool, a restaurant, picnic tables, there's a small area there for horses and even to play ball. Maybe on a weekend there would be more pe...

+ City Hall, San Pedro Cathedral, Rizal, Quezon and Osmena Park + When in an IT you see that they're going to take you to the ff: Davao City Hall, Osmena Park, Rizal Park, Quezon Park, San Pedro Cathedral and Museyo Dabawenyo and they already charge you more than 50PHP per head, THINK AGAIN. All of them are in walking distance with each other. And if you stay at Balay ni Tuding, you don't need to pay a penny to go these places! We went out early in the morning (our last day) and possibly have breakfast at the nearby Jollibee but it was still closed (it was just 6AM). We roamed around taking photos, ate taho (with langka!) and was pestered by fake pearl sellers. I bought one just to get him off my hair but instead he taught another one to go at me and sell the same stupid necklace for 1000PHP! Around 7AM, Jollibee is still closed so we went back to the hotel and ate there instead. We went out afterwards, just in time for the opening of the museum. + Museyo Dabawenyo + It's a...

When we're done with Eden, we had a small stop at a fruit stand. We were able to buy a few fruits too seeing how enthusiastic Sir Diego is with "hoarding" some for his family. + Japanese Tunnel + What do you know, it was also a resort! I rarely saw this in blogs so I imagined it to be a cave that is in the middle of nowhere with a small hut near it where tour guides are. Who knew in reality it is so far from the truth? It is a lively resort but right next to the parking is where the entrance to the short stretch of the tunnel, the only one left preserved. It was said that when the area was dug, the next morning only the tractor remained and the driver nowhere to be found. Legend says that he might have seen something that have entailed him to leave everything behind (clue: gold). The group before us really took their time as we've spent more time waiting for them to come back up than us stay down there (50PHP each). Almost everything there is already a replica of what...

+ Sir Diego and His Davao City Tour + There are so many things that after our Davao trip made me realize how convenient our lives were in the hands of Sir Diego (and Sir Edison for the next day) when we booked them. On our Day 2 we booked Sir Diego for 3000PHP to tour us around the city + Eden Nature Park. I thought we had nowhere else to go other than this but we were proven wrong when he got us other places too that are not on the flyer! We loved the service so much we even booked another round the next day (only with a different driver since he was already booked) and the convenience provided was so worth it. What's so amazing with his tour is that there are only 3 of us but he brought us a Starex (2nd day was a VIP van used by Vice-Mayors lang naman )! I was seriously doubting he's getting anything out of it. I mean how about gas? Book them as soon as you can. We learned they get booked everyday most especially by repeat customers. + Eden Nature Park + Talk about far! Unlik...

A quick siesta to regain our strength, we went out for dinner nearby. But first we walked towards the City hall where a speech rally was happening. There were food stalls near and more barbecue places but we chose to go to this buffet I heard so much about. + Chippens + We went there via taxi since I'm not sure if we can manage the walk there hungry. When we arrived I was stunned to see Lyndon's World's Worst Ribs. It got a lot of reviews as well but that night I was hoping to get us seafood hence still the choice. [gallery ids="4795,4797,4798,4799" type="square" columns="2"] Inside was a bit semi-formal than hoped. It was a buffet but they have like waiters and mantels. Unfortunately for me and our youngest, not a single seafood dish insight. But we thought it rude to leave so we ended up eating there anyway. Buffet is cheap by our standards, it was 1404PHP for 3pax. There wasn't anything I liked so much on the buffet table but the food wa...

This will be the first time my sisters and I are left on our own and the furthest we've been in the country. The booking was unplanned (had too many trips as of late) but the fares are hard to resist. But a few days before the trip, reality set in that I won't be with my research prodigy boyfriend to aid me and I was left alone to find out how to go to whichever we would go. I tried asking an officemate who is a Dabawenya if she might know people and true enough she does. Sadly though the cheapest package was 1k/head and is expensive for the itinerary itself. Looking back now, 3 out of 5 of those places mentioned were walkable from our hotel except for Jack's Ridge! If you squint hard enough you can see Mt. Apo up ahead! We arrived early in Davao, around 8AM. It was refreshing that the airport is not crowded by so many hawkers like in Manila. We head straight to our hotel to check in via Grab (yay! as of writing they should be able to accept credit cards) so we can follow o...