A Hundred...

                A hundred times of fun. A hundred times of excitement. A hundred times of relaxing moments. A hundred and twenty-three islands. Hundred Islands National Park is in Alaminos City, province of Pangasinan, northern Philippines. The islands are believed to be about two million years old. Three islands have been developed for tourists: Governor’s Island, Quezon Island, and Children Island. According to Wikipedia, the islands are said to be ancient corals that extend well inland, in an area previously comprising the seabed of an ancient sea. Lowering sea levels have exposed them to the surface and the "mushroom"-like shapes of some of the islands have been caused by the eroding action of the ocean waves.

 My co-workers and I went to this wonderful place together for the first time. We’ve heard a lot about this place from the people who have already been there. We’ve searched and seen a lot of pictures  and we’ve been waiting for this time to finally see the beauty behind those pictures and stories. The long wait is over and I should say that it was really worth it. Everything is just so fabulous. It’s surpassingly good to see those beautiful islands.

                We arrived there at around 8:30 in the morning. My friend talked to the officer there to rent a boat that will tour us to the islands. Our boatman, Kuya Ricky and his nephew JP(10 year old kid), were very friendly (though they don’t talk a lot) and kind. They also served as our tour guides. You can ask them everything about the islands. If I were in their shoes, I wouldn’t be able to remember all of those(hehehe..just joking!). While passing by the islands, he told us the names of the islands and showed us the difference between each of them.

                We stopped at the Governor’s Island where we set up our tents and cooked dinner. After eating dinner, we took a shower(there is no fresh water in the island, so we washed up using salt water as well). We had a little chat and fell asleep. Actually, it was so hard to sleep because of the noisy group near our camp plus the hot weather. When we woke up the next morning, we just ate breakfast, fixed our things and went to the top of the island to see the view of the Hundred Islands.

                It was really a remarkable experience for all of us. We really had a lot of fun. I do hope I could come back to a beautiful place like the Hundred Islands.

Six Deadly Career Sins You Can Avoid

Start the year right:

2012 had been a challenging year for me and maybe for everyone as well. As I welcome 2013, I would like to give positive thoughts about everything. Since I am a career person and been working in an institution for a few years now, I wanted to start my year right and wanted to start it from giving guidlines and tips not only for me, but also to those employees like me. I read this article from a book I’ve been using for a few years now and I just wanted  to share this to everyone.

 

Six Deadly Career Sins You Can Avoid

To err is human.  We all make mistakes. But in the business world, we need to be aware of the kinds of mistakes that may prevent us from being successful.  Here are a number of business mistakes you may want to avoid:

·         Making a fashion statement at work. Follow the written and unwritten dress code at work.  Whether you work in a suit-and-tie office or a more casual office environment, learn to go with the flow, and you’ll avoid making fashion mistake.

·         Bad-mouthing people and complaining about them behind their back. Bad words have a way of coming back to haunt you. Even if your bad-mouthing and complaints never get back to your boss, you’ll probably still get a reputation as a complainer, and your hopes for a brilliant career will be shot down.

·         Trying to “wing it” at meetings. Preparation helps to make a meeting run more smoothly. It also shows that you are motivated in what you do. Prepare ahead of time... or prepare for disaster.

·         Forgetting the little things people do for you. The people around you are human beings like yourself who need to feel appreciated for the things they do. Co-workers whose efforts you brush off as “unimportant” today may become very valuable to you in the future. If you forget to acknowledge the little things these people do for you, they may stop helping you out and start standing in your way to success.

·         Showing up fashionably late. Businesspeople are busy and don’t have time to wait for you to show up. Lateness is rude and should be avoided to take responsibility seriously.

·         Taking a “boring” assignment lightly. If you’re given an asssignment you consider to be nothing but “busy work,” put your best effort into it anyway. You’ll impress your boss with your attitude and your ability to take responsibility seriously.

-Exploring English 5

Tim Harris/Allan Rowe

 

                Hoping to help myself and other people with these tips.

....I must be INVINCIBLE! ^_*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGVnBQIm56o&noredirect=1

INVINCIBLE

I don't have nerves of steel
I have a heart that feels
I may have cried a million
tears but I wont drown
I let myself unfold
Gave you my hand to hold
You took me beyond where
I could see
And then you let go of me. .

Chorus:I was damaged by the fall
Got the wind knocked out of me
To be standing here at all
I must be invincible
I thought that I would break
But now I have come to see
Something strong and beautiful
Inside of me
I must be invincible

I dont have X-rays eyes
Don't have a heart so wise
How could I have known
you'd let me down
If I had known that then
my eyes were wide open
I still believe I would've risked it
There's no way i would've missed it

Chorus:I was damaged by the fall
Got the wind knocked out of me
To be standing here at all
I must be invincible
I thought that I would break
But now I have come to see
Something strong and beautiful
Inside of me
I must be invincible

Hey yeah yeah. . . its a
blessing and a curse
Hey yeah yeah. . . But
you find out
what you're worth.

I was damaged by the fall
Got the wind knocked out of me
To be standing here at all
I must be invincible

I thought that I would break
But now I have come to see
Something strong and beautiful
Inside of me
(I must be invincible) x8

Sometimes, in every challenge, every step and every happening in our lives has better ways to make it light.  As for me, I usually sing (though I’m not really good at it) whenever I encounter things in my life, even if it is good or bad, challenging or not, happy or sad. I feel that my life is like a song. Some songs have lyrics that I may say really te same as people’s lives. Everyone of us has song for our lives. For me, i really think that the song “Invincible” tells something about me. As the song says

I was damaged by the fall

Got the wind knocked out of me

To be standing here at all

I must be invincible

I thought that I would break

But now I have come to see

Something strong and beautiful

Inside of me

I must be invincible

                   Yes, I must be invincible! I have failed many times and still I’m here, continuing my life despite of all the things that I’ve had.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGVnBQIm56o&noredirect=1

..a spelunking adventure

               Sunday, September 30, 2012, when my friends and I went to Puning Cave for a spelunking adventure.  My friends, Rodel, Elvin, and Jhen, are the original members of the group and I invited two of my friends at work, Joven and Rosalie. I must say that this adventure of my life is indeed very different from my past experiences in the cave.  Maybe the longest cave?  I think it took us more than an hour to get through it (including picture taking and rest time, hehehe).

                How to get there?  Joven and I took a ride from Manggahan, Commonwealth to Tungko, San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan that took us less than an hour to wait for Rosalie. Then, we took a jeep again going to Puregold Sampol where we met the other three.  From there, we took another jeep going to Sta. Maria, Bulacan then another jeep to Norzagaray.  We got off the jeep and waited for another one, but decided to take a tricycle to Angat Public Market.  We passed through the market and took another tricycle to Brgy. Bayabas, Dona Remedios Trinidad, Bulacan.

                We waited for a while at a sari-sari store for the others where we met the Tourism Officer, Mang Sammy Enriquez.  He was the one who gave us a short briefing about the dos and don’ts.  He introduced us to our guides, Oliver and Kennedy.  Then we headed for the cave.



The locals called it "Hubog Gitara".

                Before we  reached the entrance of the cave, we crossed a waist deep river first and we passed a stream called “Hubog Gitara” because of the shape of it that looks like a guitar (according to our guides). We ate lunch there and took some pictures.  After eating, we had a 10 minute walk to the mouth of the cave.

                Of course, the usual thing tourists do is to take pictures in every part of the place they visit. We took some pictures and got into the cave. It was dark and wet with knee-deep water inside.  The long travel from the metro was really worth it. 




               


           We enjoyed looking at the stalactites and stalagmites that shines every time we focus our lights on them. They were really beautiful creations of nature. 



                         












                  

            Everything was nice except for the part of the cave where there were lots of bats, I think more than hundreds of them. Because of them, we hurried up to pass their territory, but still took some pictures of them. 










               We needed to climb up the rocks just to get out of the cave. It was a bit hard for me because the distance between the rocks are a bit big and my legs are not that long to reach them. It was hard, but everything I experienced was really fun. We went down the mountain and took a dip in the river we saw. While we were there, we talked about everything that happened inside. We thought we could take a rest then and just reminisce our experiences, but after 


passing the river, here comes the muddy trail. We didn’t expect that it would be very hard. It’s okay for us to walk on a muddy trail, but every time we step on it, we would shout because of the sharp stones. We tried walking on the side of the trail, but there were plants they called “Kalmot-Pusa” that leave their torns to our skin. (sigh) You’d rather walk on a muddy trail than have that plants torns. It was really painful.

                We reached a mini water fall where we washed our dirty feet and slippers then walked to a semi-muddy trail again. We had to make it a bit faster because it was getting late. We’re still far from home. We had to pass the hanging bridge this time, different trail from what we took when we were going there. I really enjoyed the bridge, though it was old and there were lots of holes.

                We cleaned up and got dressed at the tourism office and headed for the store where the tricycle drivers were waiting.  We had coffee and went home at last.

                Ooooops! There’s more. Just a few meters from the store, our tricycle had a problem and we needed to stop. They fixed it and then we rode again (repeat what happened 3 times). Grrrr! I was tired and pissed when we reached the bus station. Good thing it happened during the last part of our trip and I was too tired to complain.

                For all those things that happened to us, I must say that it was such a journey. I would love to do that again. And I’m happy that I was with my friends. It was so much fun {except for the tricycle ride}.

                                                                                                                                                                                             

me and my expo

As I sit on a couch, eating my curly tops and expo, I suddenly realized that I've been stressed out these past few days. Come to think of it, I couldn't remember when I last have a quiet time for myself. I've been very busy these days that I didn't even have time to spend for myself. Aside from getting ready for work, my only time for myself is when I get home watch a little, and sleep.

Looking at the dogs [procopio and lulu] sleeping, I felt that I also need to sleep at this time. I want to, but I can't. There are a lot of things that are running around my head. Things that make me feel awake. I don't think I can remove them from my head.

I bit part of my chocolate while reminiscing the things I've done in the past. Things that I decided to forget, but keep on knocking on my head. Suddenly, I smiled remembering one situation that happened before. Now I know that true happiness is not about big laughs or tears of joy. It's about a simple smile whenever you remember someone who made your life simply and completely happy.

Doing things alone makes me feel independent, but I never realized that there are a lot of people around me who are ready to help. Now I know I should appreciate and thank those people who are always there for me. I never thought that this would happen but I'm glad they are with me.

I couldn't imagine myself without those people who's been my outlet to release the bad vibes inside and blocking my heart to breathe.

I know that life never seems to be the way we want it, but we live the best way we can and we can fill it with perfect moments with our love ones.

Thirty minutes had passed and I felt relaxed. I had the best quiet moment for myself. Hoping to have this time again.

nobody knows

Nobody knows.  Nobody knows, but me, as the song says.  Yes, nobody knows, but me.  The things I want, what I feel right now or what is really inside of me.  Some people think, I’m weird.  Some people say, I’m serious. Some people believe that I’m different.  A lot of people judge me by my appearance or even by the things that I do.  Just because I sometimes sit quietly by myself on a bench away from the others, they would say that I’m serious?  Just because I enjoy going to some places alone, they would say that I’m weird?  Just because I sometimes stop and don’t want to talk to anyone, they would say that I’m different?  There were times that I couldn’t understand anymore.  People are judging others by just looking at them.

Who knows who these people really are?  Who knows who I really am?  Nobody knows, but ME.  I am the only person who can say who I am.  People say I’m weird, but they wouldn’t know why.  They can say that I’m serious,  but they wouldn’t know why.  They can say that I’m different, but I think  every person in this world is different.

There are a lot of things I’ve experienced that made me who I am.  Good or bad experiences made me ME.  Maybe those things made me think a lot about life.  They even gave me ideas why I became like this.  I should say that life is really complicated.  My life is like that.  What I do and the people around me make it complicated.  I actually want to have an easy and simple life, but the people around me are making it very hard for me to have it.  What I sometimes do is to go in the flow and let everything pass.  But still, I have to face the truth.  I cannot avoid having problems.  Everyone has problems, not only you, but also me.  As time goes by, I can handle things on my own.  I sometimes avoid asking for others’ help cause I know that I am not the only person who has.  I just think that others have bigger than mine.  It’s actually a crazy idea, but it really helps.  It helps me to be strong and face everything.

 

With all the things happening in my life now, I’m still thankful to those people who never left me.  In times like this, it’s really comforting to have people who say, “I’m just here.”  It really makes me happy.  Still, I know that I have people to count on.  In return, I also tell them that I’m just here.  Maybe there are people that I consider my close friends aside from my pen and my paper, whom I can trust and tell what I feel, but it’s still me who will decide.  I’m still the one who has the last say about what’s happening in my life.  They may know why I’m acting strange, but they wouldn’t know the real reason why.  They know why I’m eating ice cream, but sometimes I don’t tell the reason why.  They just wait patiently for me to open it up to them.  That’s what I love about them.  For sure, they really are good friends.  They know who I am, but not everything that I feel and I prefer to be like this.

 

So who knows the real me?  Nobody knows, but ME.