Help the victims of Typhoon Sendong

Image from tastybittersweets.tumblr.com

Ondoy in 2009, Sendong in 2011. Climate change is something that we should take seriously. The littlest of things that we do to damage our environment can cause a massive destruction to every humankind and Cagayan de Oro City (in the province of Misamis Oriental) and Iligan City (in Lanao del Norte) in the island of Mindanao, Philippines witnessed the force of nature first hand. Typhoon Sendong (Washi, international name) caused heavy rains in the said provinces. The mountains surrounding the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan could not bear the downpour of continuous rains that lasted for hours, and with most of its trees gone due to illegal logging, the waters have nowhere else to go but down to the cities causing flash floods that killed thousands.

We are asking for the help of every Filipino and of the international community, we need all your prayers and support.


Here's how you can help:

Donate thru PNRC Text RED(space)AMOUNT to 2899 (Globe),by using GCASH.Just text DONATE(space)AMOUNT(space)MPIN(space)SLB and send to 2882.Smart subscribers send RED to 4143.Valid donation amounts 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 500, 1000.

For donors overseas:

GMA Kapuso foundation donation for Sendong victims preferably cash. Contact (63)(02)9284299; (63)(02)9289351; www.kapusofoundation.com

METROPOLITAN BANK & TRUST COMPANY (METROBANK)
Peso Savings
Account Name:GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Number:3-098-51034-7

Dollar Savings
Account Name:GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Number:2-098-00244-2
Code:MBTC PH MM

UNITED COCONUT PLANTERS BANK (UCPB)
Peso Savings
Account Name:GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Number:115-184777-2
                            :160-111277-7

Dollar Savings
Account Name:GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Number:01-115-301177-9
                            : 01-160-300427-6
Code:UCPB PH MM

Donation are also accepted in the following banks:
BANCO DE ORO (BDO)
Peso Savings
Account Name:GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Number:469-0022189

Dollar Savings
Account Name:GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Number:469-0072135
Code: BNORPHMM

PHILIPPINE NATIONAL BANK (PNB)
Peso Savings
Account Name :GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Numbe:121-003200017

Dollar Savings
Account Name:GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Number:121-003200025
Code:PNB MPH MM

SAGIP KAPAMILYA Donate in Cash BDO Peso Account 

Account name: ABS-CBN Foundation Inc.-Sagip Kapamilya 

Account Number: 39301-14199 

Swift Code: BNORPHMM

BDO Dollar Account 

Account name: ABS-CBN Foundation Inc.-Sagip Kapamilya 

Account Number: 39300-81622 

Swift Code: BNORPHMM

PNB Peso Account 

Account name: ABS-CBN Foundation Inc.-Sagip Kapamilya 

Account Number: 419-539-5000-13 

Swift Code: PNBMPHMM

BPI Peso Account 

Account name: ABS-CBN Foundation Inc.-Sagip Kapamilya 

Account Number: 3051-1127-75 Branch: West Triangle, Quezon City 

Swift Code: BOPIPHMM

BPI Dollar Account 

Account name: ABS-CBN Foundation Inc.-Sagip Kapamilya 

Account Number: 3054-0270-35 Branch: West Triangle, Quezon City 

Swift Code: BOPIPHMM

Thanks in advance for all the prayers and support.

Coming Soon: Long overdue Travelogues

Will blog soon about my travels in the past few years - Tagaytay, Cebu, Boracay, Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur, Anawangin, CDO-Camiguin-Bukidnon-Davao, Laiya, Vietnam-Cambodia-Thailand, Kota Kinabalu, Singapore. Whew! That's a mouthful! Hope I didn't forget anything.

The New 7 Wonders of Nature: Puerto Princesa Underground River

Photo from New 7 Wonders of Nature website

We campaigned, we voted, and we won! Thanks to the support of every Filipinos, and foreign allies alike, in the country and all over the world; yes, the Puerto Princesa Underground River is now one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature, as per the official preliminary counting of votes, together with Amazon, Ha Long Bay, Komodo, Jeju Island, Iguazu Falls, and Table Mountain.

VOTE for Puerto Princesa Underground River

Puerto Princesa Underground River (Picture courtesy of New 7 Wonders of Nature)

Please vote for our very own Puerto Princesa Underground River in the New 7 Wonders of Nature. This is really a wonder of nature and we thank God for blessing our country, the Philippines, with such beautiful and magnificent work of nature. 

How to vote:
1. Via text message:
      Text PPUR to 2861
2. Visit the link below:
      http://www.new7wonders.com/archives/wonder/puerto-princesa-underground-river

Expectations

We live in a world full of expectations, from the moment of conception, our parents already had expectations from us – boy or girl; a few months in, and they expect us to mumble words or walk a step or two; growing up, they expect us to be on the top of the class where keeping the colors inside of the line is the hardest thing to do. Life is full of expectations, some of them are met, but mostly are not.

Great Escape - Kota Kinabalu

18-21 February 2011

Mt. Kinabalu

My college friends and I love to escape from the fast paced life in the city every once in a while. A few years back, we went to Boracay and Ilocos provinces and spent a fortune on those trips, but more on that later. So, we went for another trip, but this time it is out of the country. We wanted to go to Bali or Phuket for the summer but there are no direct flights to Bali (from Manila) and Phuket is, well, a bit pricey with the airfares and hotels and whatnot. Thus, we end up booking a flight to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.

Weekend Getaway - Cebu City

07 - 09 March 2009

Ever since I was a little boy, I always wanted to see all the beautiful places here in the Philippines. I see them in books, postcards, newspapers, and magazines. And this trip started it all, my dream of exploring my beloved Philippines, and later, the world.

Cebu City, the oldest city in the Philippines, assumed the title of The Queen City of the South, and true to its name, it is very rich in culture, tradition, delicacies, language, and people , clearly the mother queen of all cities . My trip to the country of the Cebuanos - as the natives there call themselves - was rather short, just over the weekend. Around fifteen of my officemates, including myself, went to Cebu just for fun, and because there was a "seat sale" at that time, this one local airline company is always selling airplane tickets for a very cheap price, so we grabbed the chance and booked our flights,  roundtrip, Manila-Cebu-Manila.

Magellan's Cross

Taoist Temple

Our flight was around five in the morning, Saturday, it is that early that one of our colleague failed to check-in on time and unfortunately, were left behind. We arrived at Mactan International Airport in Cebu City and immediately got into the van that we rented for the city tour and went to our hotel to leave our bags and then hit it off for the tour. Since we have only two days for the whole trip, we had to start the tour right away and headed to the tourist attractions inside the metro. We went to a Taoist temple, an old and small walled city - Fort San Pedro, Lapu-Lapu Shrine (Lapu-Lapu is a Filipino hero who fought the Spaniards when they tried to conquer his land, and he killed their general, Ferdinand Magellan), and the Basilica del Sto. Niño - the shrine of the image of a Sto. Niño, which they believe to be miraculous, and who's feast day is sometime in the first or second week of January, they call it the Sinulog Festival where they do street parades and street dances while holding the image of Sto. Niño; also, just outside the Basilica, is the famous Magellan's Cross where the actual cross that Ferdinand Magellan himself planted on that very site where the shrine is erected. Being in a historical place, a very significant part of the Philippine history, it overwhelmed me. I can't believe that I am actually on the site where the history of my country began, that this place, I only see it in books and postcards before, that I was actually inside it and was able to touch the cross. It felt awesome! Then it hit me, I am actually loving what I was going on, that I could do this and explore the Philippines. So right there and then, I said to myself that I will visit all the attractions in the Philippines , that they will be no longer be just an image in a book or postcards or newspapers or magazines, I will be there myself and take the pictures using my own camera.

The city tour was very tiring, so we went back to the hotel, rest for a few hours, freshen up, then we hit the road again, this time to explore the night life and buy some stuff to bring back home. After we were finished buying the danggits, dried mangoes, etc. We then went to this baby back ribs house  that is, according to one of our officemate who lived in Cebu way back when, the best baby back ribs in town and probably in the entire country. The place is called Casa Verde, which is located in The Walk - a place similar to Eastwood or Metrowalk in Manila - which is inside the IT hub of Cebu; also, it is the cheapest baby back ribs in the country, I think, considering the taste and all, you are definitely getting the value for your money. So that's it for the first day, cause I never went to the bars actually and party because I was too tired and was having a terrible headache, I just went back to the hotel and sleep.

On the second day, we went to the Mactan island, on the southern part of the city, and rent a boat for supposedly an "island hopping" but turned out to be an island-sight-seeing-swim-sonrkle-in-the-middle-of-the-sea thing. Not much happenings, but the water is so clear and blue and just very, very amazing. I love how I can see the corals underneath because the water is so clear, and there not much current, so you can really see the bottom of the sea.

On our last day, Monday, we woke up super early because we had to catch our flight that is around five in the morning for us to be able to make it in the office on time. Yes, we went straight to the office after our weekend getaway, well some of us did, some of us did not as they were able to file a vacation leave. You see, we were kind of in one team, so we can't be all our of the office, so some of us who were not that quick enough to file for a vacation leave, had to go to work that day, too bad...

The Trippers

The Outdoors - Conquer Sagada

Sagada, Mountain Province, Philippines

22-24 January 2011

Hanging Coffins of Sagada

Day 0

It has been raining for the past days. The monsoon has hit the metro very bad and caused floods on almost every street of every city and Taguig and Mandaluyong is no exception. The day is about to end, I didn't get to finish the final exercise of the Application Engine training, much excited for the Sagada trip. We leave for Sagada at 1000H, the bus station is in Sampaloc, Manila.

Travel on a Shoestring

I am no billionare. I can't just go to anywhere in the world whenever I want to. I travel at my own cost. I travel on a budget without compromising fun and adventures. I explore places with my friends most of the time. If I am not in the metro, I probably am somewhere in the Philippines or across the globe.