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Nang Magparty Ang Isang Bum

Kamusta naman ang kaliwa't kanan na party. Kailangan may theme. Kailangan may food. Madaling mawala ang diwa ng pasko lalo na kapag kasama ka sa party organizer nito. Hawak mo ang detalye. Dapat kumpleto ang lahat. Walang aberya. Dapat mapasaya mo sila. 

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Hundred Islands Adventure

January 24, 2009 Alaminos, Pangasinan

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Food trips

Here are some food pictures I have taken.... namiss ko tuloy ang breakfast buffet sa baiyoke sky hotel, thailand... well yung ibang pictures sa bahay lang. hehe

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IVCF Sem-ender: Pajama Party

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Photo Album 2008-09-24

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Photo Album 2008-08-19

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Wedding of Boyet and Joy (May 17)

The wedding took place at the boating pavillion of La Mesa Ecopark at 3pm. Good thing it did not rain (just a drizzle for a while). It is always good to see friends getting married. But it reminded us to pray for those who are still single and looking. We are praying for them still. God will give them their mate in his perfect time. Of course, after the wedding, went to gimik with friends sa tomas morato (I have two eggs and half moon)

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Sagada Trip - Day 2 and 3 (Spelunking, Burial Cave and Lake Danum)

The second day was spelunking day (caving) in Sagada. We met at the municipal hall at 8am with Bean (Korean) and our tour guide Ben. Kaya kahit wala ang kapatid kong si Ben, pwede na rin kasi may makukulit kaming Ben. "Ben bakit ganito yan? Bakit ganyan? Saan na tayo?" We had a 30 minute walk going to the cave. On the way we saw more sites of hanging coffins as well as a burial cave for mothers who died while giving birth. They say it's a curse so they separate their burial. Happy mother's day to you. The walk was very relaxing because the sun shone so brightly, the cool wind blows and the scenery was priceless plus I am with my honey! Really a wonderful time. Upon arrival at the cave entrance, our tour guide lighted our lamp which will serve as our light inside the cave. Then we started trekking inside the cave. The first phase of the trek down was stony and slippery together with the smell of bat urine and poopoo. It felt like I was Golum hiding in the dark cave. In front of us was a family also doing caving. I say they were not prepared for there was a lady who wears an all white outfit, another with lots of jewelry and unsuitable outfits. Anyway, there were stalagmites, bat noises, laughter and picture taking along the endless rocky and slippery path. As soon as you get tired of hiking, you get to see the next phase of the trek which was really awesome. Our tour guide made us remove our slippers and we have to walk barefoot on the yellow rock formations which were actually rough like a course sand paper. You will not slip but you will get wet because clear water is constantly flowing in the rock formations. We saw various formations like turtle head, pregnant woman, chocolate cake, king's curtain and others. There were also sea shells inside the cave. You also have to do rapelling in one of the rock formations. At the end of the cave (by the way it is called Sumaging Cave) is a pool 6 feet deep. Of course we did not swim because it is dark and we do not want to drown. hehe.. Spelunking took us almost 3 hours. Then we visited the burial cave (known as Lumiang cave) were lots of coffins are stacked. The coffins are more than 200 years old. Then for lunch, we went back to Youghart house and ordered carbonary, sandwich and of course youghart! Can't get enough of this youghart. After lunch, we went to the municipal hall to see if there are people who would go with us to the big falls because the tour guide fee and vehicle rental fee is expensive if only the two of us would go. But most of the people we talked to do not want to go because it would take too much time and effort to go there. The tour guide fee costs 600 and the vehicle rental costs 700. At the end we were not able to go because no one would come with us. We went back to our room and rested for a while. Then after that, we decided to visit Lake Danum. The couple in the room next to us told us that it is just a 45 minute walk going there. And so we did. We really did not know where it is. The road going to Lake Danum was also the road going to Besao, the next town. At first we were happily walking and joking around but after a few minutes we started worrying that it would be too far. There were dark clouds and signs of rain. But we pushed through. We asked a jeepney driver how far it is, he said 700 meters. And so we walked. But then, we got past the 1 kilometer road sign going to Besao and no Lake Danum in sight. We decided to go back after walking 3 kilometers but then the jeepney passed by us (tourists rented the jeep going to lake danum) and so we decided to go again to Lake Danum. But then, after a while, On our last day, we were suppose to ride the 10AM trip to Baguio but the bus was already full. Instead, we took the last trip which was 1PM. On that day also, there was a wedding. The whole town is invited. Others say its mandatory to attend. The Episcopal church was packed with people. I was disappointed since I thought it was a traditional cordilleran wedding but its not. After the wedding, the line of people going to the reception was so loooong. Of course what do you expect, the whole town is invited. We were joking about the wedding coordinator going crazy as well as the caterer and the husband minding all the costs! hehe Sagada was certainly a memorable getaway trip. Can't wait to be back!

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Sagada Trip - Day 1

My birthday treat was a trip to Sagada. Sakay ng 7:30 AM trip ng GL Trans, sinimulan ang aming adventure. First time namin parehong pumunta ng Sagada pero nakarating na ako dati ng Bontoc which is 45 minutes away from Sagada. The first 4 hours, maganda ang road sa Halsema highway ng Benguet. Pagpasok ng Mountain Province, sa una lang sementado ang daan, then rough road na. May manaka-nakang concrete road lang. Pero totoong bangin ang katabi ng bus. May portions na bus lang talaga ang kasya sa daan. Katakot. Stressed si Weng pag nadadaan sa ganoong roads. After 6 hours, narating namin ang Sagada. Pagdating doon, parang simpleng town lang siya. Tahimik at payak ang pamumuhay. Diretso kami sa George Guest House. Buti na lang nagpareserve kami one month before, kasi fully book daw sila. Syempre kinuha naming room yung may sariling CR at may veranda. After mag-unpack diretso na kami sa Municipal Hall para magparegister. Required kasi lahat ng tourist na magregister at magbayad ng 10 pesos na tourist fee. Tapos namili na kami ng tour na gagawin. First Tour - Sightseeing (Echo Valley - Underground River - Bokong Falls) Ang bawat tour ay may tour guide. Pwede namang wala pero at the risk of mawala ko o di mo mahanap ang dapat puntahan. 400 pesos ang tour guide fee. Pero mas makakamura ka pag marami kayo. So naghanap kami ng kasama. Kaso ang available lang na kasama ay isang Koreano na nakasabay namin sa bus, si Bean. Pwede na rin at least tatlo kaming maghahati sa 400. First stop, echo valley. Yes you can shout and hear your voice being echoed. Tapos may view ng hanging coffins. Then hiking ulit para malapitan ang mga hanging coffins. We found out na kaya may hanging coffins kasi at the request ng namatay na doon siya ilagay. So bago ka mamatay, sasabihan mo ang mga kaanak mo gusto kong ilibing sa cliff na yan. Syempre fetal position para tipid sa kahoy. Second stop, underground river. Isang river na dadaan sa isang cave. That's it. Third stop, a small falls called Bokong river which has a height of 20 feet. The view going there was very nice terraces with matching cool air. Ang sarap lang ibabad ang paa sa malamig na tubig ng falls. pwede maligo pero sobrang lalim ng pool ng falls. After the sightseeing tour, pagod na kami sa kalalakad. So just to celebrate my birthday, we went to a popular restaurant in Sagada called the Youghart House. As its name suggest, they serve delicious yougharts for dessert. Pagdating doon, nandoon ulit si Korean na si Bean. We shared the table with him kasi full packed ang lugar. Sabi ni Bean, nakita nya ang restaurant sa kanyang tour guide book. Bago daw kasi siya umalis sa Pinas, ay lilibutin nya muna ang Pinas. That night we ordered Java Fried Chicken at Fried rice with vegetables and Tuna. Sobrang sulit kahit na 100+ na yung price ng food. Unfortunately, ubos na ang youghart nila for that night. Buti na lang at nagshare si Koreano ng youghart niya, which is the last order ng youghart for the night. After dinner we went home. Natulog kami ng maaga kasi walang ABS-CBN sa cable TV ng guest house namin. Kapamilya ever.

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Incoming Freshies invade UP Baguio

Yes, it's that time of year when good friends are near  este when freshies are near... naku sandamakdam na mukhang grade schoolers  ang nagkalat sa UP kasama ang kanilang ever  concerned parents... CAC ang enrollees ngayon... bukas ang Science then Social Sciences. In fairness, 64 comsci freshies ang meron... magpakita naman kaya sila? naku for sure tatawagin na naman nila akong KUYA. feelingero. hehe... Adviser nyo ako sa behave! next!

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Swimming sa La Union

Labor day, holiday. malamang wala work. Kaya naisipan bigla na magswimming? saan? asin kamo? la union? saan doon? saan mura at maganda? ayan luto ulam, bili food at byahe na.... bilis bilis iniwan ang baguio na mukhang uulan. ... pagdating sa la union, sobrang init at tirik ang araw. A very nice day to swim! kaya rent ng room, kain then swim then kain then swim then tulog then uwi na... umuulan sa baguio. di bale, nakaswim naman kami. nakaraos na naman.

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Nang mafrustrate ang isang bum

Tama, ako ay nagbalik sa aking bumming mode. Walang summer class kaya bakante ang summer. Sinubukan kong maghanap ng research at projects. Una, nagtraining ako para sa isang project on stock market automatic trading system. Malapit na sana matapos ang training. Konti na lang at gets ko na ang system at handa na akong maging hard core programmer with restless nights and adrenaline rush. Kaso, biglang nagkasakit ang aking contact at nagkaproblema kami sa contract. Kaya ayun naisantabi muna ang project kasi ipapa-checkup at ipapagamot daw muna ang aking contact. Wait for further announcements. Hanggang ngayon TBA pa din. Pangalawa, dumako naman ako sa city services offfice ng baguio specifically sa City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit. Head kasi doon ang friend ko at kapitbahay ko ngayon. Naghahangad kaming makagawa ng computized disease mapping system to predict an outbreak of diseases like dengue and meningo. Kasi naman manual silang nagpaplot ng cases sa board. Ang city government ay nagpaprint pa daw ng tarpauline ng maps ng barangay ng Baguio para magamit sa pagmap ng mga health data. Hello, hanggang ngayon wala pang dumarating. 3 months na. Nagka-outbreak na ng dengue etc... Gobyerno. Eh di desperado na kaming makagawa ng computerized disease mapping. Pero bago namin magawa ang ambisyoso naming proyekto (kasi first in the Philippines daw sabi ni Doc), aba eh kailangan muna naming makakuha ng digital baguio map mula sa City Assessors office. More than two months na since nabigay namin ang request letter, hanggang ngayon wala pa din yung mga mapa. Diyos ko, baka may outbreak na ulit.... kelan pa darating ang aming mga inaasam. Pangatlo, dahil walang usad ang mga proyektong nabanggit, bumalik ako aking umanong scientific side ng research. Aba! Two years na at wala pa akong napoproduce ng research paper since my masteral degree. O di nag-ambisyon akong makagawa ulit ng panibagong research. Syempre kailangan maghanap ng research problem. Andami kong gustong gawin. Kaso kailangang mamili. Buti naman at finally ay may na-identify akong research area at eto yun (warning: nosebleed ahead): "Flexible job-shop-scheduling problem is an extension of classical job-shop problems that permit an operation of each job to be processed by more than one machine. The research methodology is to assign operations to machines (assignment) and determine the processing order of jobs on machines (sequencing) such that the system objectives can be optimized." Hmmn, interesting ang problem at within my research area. Syempre, sa computer science, dapat updated ang related literature mo. Kung hinde, gaya din sa ibang field, malamang baka madoble mo ang research ng iba o kaya ang sagwa ng kalalabasan. Eh di naghanap naman ako sa mga latest journal articles. Andami kong nakitang journal papers. Pero sa kasamaang palad, wala pala akong access sa mga journals na ito. Hanggang abstract lang ang kaya kong basahin. NAAWA AKO SA SARILI KO. Eto ba ang primier state university? Walang access sa mga journals at ibang research materials? Pambihirang buhay. Paano uusad ang research niyan. Ewan. Kaya uuwi na lang ako. Walang kwenta mga efforts ko sa research. huhuhu. Nakakaawa talaga ang Pinas, ang baguio, ang UP. Nakakaawa ako. Sa April 24, magpapagraduate na naman ang UP. Sana may bright future ang ang estudyanteng ito. Sana, di nila maranasan ang mga nararanasan ko. *** Sabay kanta ng "Wish ko lang......".

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Moving In to new ivhome after effects

Yes, pagkatapos ng nakakapagod at nakakatuwang paglilipat sa bagong IV Home sa Ambiong Baguio, we went back to the old IV Home in Trancoville para maglinis at magligpit ng kalat. Grabe. Nakaupo lang kami sa sofa. And here's a short video clip of us .... resting for a while. ermmm while tonee is sweeping the floor ... hehe

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Moving in to our new IV Home Baguio

Yes, after nine years of staying at trancoville, we once again transferred to our new ivhome in Ambiong Baguio. It was fun, nostalgic and tiring. Those who were present are: Ara, Alf, Vanet, Toni, Kuya Ernie, nat and brother, me and Weng. It was funny listening to Kuya Ernie telling us that a certain table and chair was from the 80s, or looking at an 80's picture of Ate Millie or the things left by previous IV home dwellers like ate anamae, GT's JR, Roma and Xai! It's also funny that the key was lost during the packing but found once we have were at the new IV home. We left a do not disturb sign at the old IV home door and left unlocked but when we came back to clean up. the door was open! It felt good to have a new IV Home. Of course the things are still unpacked but hey we have the entire summer to do it! Oh how I wish we would be granted a new sofa! And the list may go on...hehe The new IV Home is at Ambiong Baguio. A three-bedroom apartment with a large sala.

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Panabenga 2008

This is kinda a different Panagbenga this year! Well, I enjoyed my time with my family kaya lang umuulan! Grrr. Anyway, interesting lang na ang mga sayaw ngayon ay pataasan, i mean gamit sila ng ladder while dancing o dapat mataas ang kinalalagyan mo sa float! hahah. Also, it's good to see UP joining the parade again even if it is only for the Centennial. Session road in bloom is ok. kaso inuulan talaga. kabanas. Cheers!

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IV Home Update: Bring a friend and win a prize!

Last Friday BS talked about how to bring friends for Christ! So we shared about what we think we did to effectively share the Gospel and what the Bible says about it. We grouped into 2, my team and the others. hahaha. joke. we came up with what to do personally and corporately to win people for Christ. One idea which I suggested, bring a friend and win a prize! the more friends you bring, the more raffle ticket you get and the more chances of winning! and if the person accepts Christ, you get to go win an additional prize! (in heaven!) great idea huh! heheh... Maganda ang suggestion ni alf, provide fare for the needy! Sabi ko naman, escort service! di ba hatid sundo! The article we read says while advertisement and promotion materials are good, personal invitation is better! and don't just invite people, ask if they will be able to come and arrange to meet with them. People don't just go to activities, they should be accompanied too! So don't just invite them, bring them! So will you heed the invitation? Come to Baguio! hehehe Feb 23, is our IVCF Regional Assembly! See you! (plugging everywhere)