I plainly recollect sitting in class on the last day of school; patiently waiting for the fingers of the clock to signify that classes were over. Tic tok! Tic Tok! Kringggg! Oh, Christmas – the most anticipated time of the year is finally here! The family’s original Christmas itinerary was Siargao, but due to the typhoon Vinta that landed on the Philippine area of responsibility, we were left with no choice but to cancel our voyage. We felt an enormous amount of disappointment, but being raised as an optimist, we’ve decided to give ourselves especially my working sisters a break from workloads without leaving the vicinity of the urbanized community. We’ve searched hotels that would match our preferences and budget. The odds are in our favour as we discovered a newly established hotel just a kilometre away from our abode. (See map below) Our family was hosted by the Maayo hotel located in Mandaue City. Upon our arrival, we were welcomed with their smiling hospitable staffs, and when we went inside our room, we were amazed of how spacious it was. A minute of observing the place, we were already amazed! Maayo, you’re so maayo! (Pictures below are from Booking.com) There’s this homey vibe in Maayo where you just feel like being at peace, and not thinking about work or school, and anything that can promote anxieties. Thank you Maayo for being an amazing host for our family’s Christmas break!
For bookings, check Maayo hotel’s website. Here's some of our pictures:
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Gratitude. This is all that I could ever think of as I set foot on the foothills of the Naupa Mountains.Thankful for the company of old and new friends that supports me in every quest in mind. Grateful for every meaningful conversations that turned into life lessons. Moments like these need to be treasured! I am now a year older, but I am still left uncertain about my chosen career and future journey – it’s depressing. But instead of being overwhelmed by the negatives of life and its uncertainties, I’ve decided to abandon my mundane self and feed my insatiable thirst for mountains on my natal day. The tranquillity of the scenic & mesmerizing bird’s eye view of the mountains made #TeamKatkats hike Alps. Even though we just ascended 5 peaks for just a month, we still have this undying thirst for dates with Mother Nature. And eventually, the desire for the highland led us to Naga’s gem – Mount Naupa. OUR SPONTANEOUS ADVENTURE: The original itinerary was to climb Lutopan’s overlooked peak - Mount Kalbasaan but due to the busy line for Lutopan at the South Bus Terminal, we’ve spontaneously rode a minibus bound for Naga, and found ourselves at the foot of Mount Naupa. Tip # 1: Don’t ride mini buses. We rode in a mini bus on our way to Mt. Naupa and the estimated fare based on some blogs is P20.00 for students, but mini buses don’t issue a student’s discount and their fare is fixed to P50.00. Series Liner & KMK are the best options. Tip # 2: Bring your student’s ID or Senior Citizen Card for discounts. Upon our arrival to Tungkop, Minglanilla, we’ve wasted no time and made our way to Barangay Cogon – the jump off point to Mt. Naupa via habal habal or motor taxi. Everyone was psyched for the 45 minutes hike (the minutes to reach the peak depends on your pace). For me, Mount Naupa was a breeze and friendly for first timer trekkers, though the hike can be pretty exhausting due to its slightly steep trail but once you reach the camping site, it’s totally worth it. Tip # 3: Bring trail foods and energizing drinks like Gatorade. Tip # 4: Be courteous. Greet the locals and other hikers and campers. We assembled our tent, which will be our small temporary abode for the night, soaked up the scenery and breathe in the fresh breeze in the mountain when we arrive in the camp site of Mount Naupa. Sitting inside the tent and watching the darkness enveloped the sky with songs playing on the phone became my much-loved hobby. And just like that, I felt like my weary spirit has been replenished and renewed! Tip # 5: Charge your mobile phones and bring extra battery and power bank. Tip # 6: Prepare your favorite playlist We’ve made friends with our neighboring tents in the camp site. Instead of spending the socials night inside the tent and play cards, we spent it with the couple trekkers – kuya Al and ate Angel and with the group trekkers - kuya Jazel and his friends. We’ve talked about their adventures, love lives, careers, and the biceps of the coastguards (lol). We’re still in deep awe with the beauty of nature so we talked about God,religion and, as you might have expected, questions were raised about religion. (I learned and discovered things during this talk). Tip # 7: Bring jacket or cardigans to survive the cold weather The next day, I woke up with a Birthday song, sung by Nysse and Glomark with a Sandwich cakey marshmallow, and the sea of clouds made the moment more memorable. I thank God and my angels for these moments! When the heat of the sun started to be unbearable, we unassembled the tent and disposed our garbage inside our bags. We had no plans of ending our plans early, so we followed the bushy trail to the peak of Naupa. On our way to the top of the mountain, four children followed us, even though we didn’t ask for their help. When we reach the peak, there wasn’t any good angle for a nice photograph. Tip # 8: There wasn’t any good angle at the peak, so if you’re looking for an angle better stay at the camp sites. With our energies revived, we descended from Mt. Naupa and made our way back to the jump off point, where we hailed a habal habal for Barangay Tungkop. From Barangay Tngkop, we went for a jeepney ride to Naga baywalk to eat our breakfast, and a photo op ended our adventure. The way I see it, Mt. Naupa is perfect for soul searching and a remarkable spot to unwind and fix the shattered being. The mountain has everything that we need to de-stress. It was a memorable birthday. Thank you, Naupa! Itinerary:
2:40 PM: ETA to South Bus Terminal 3:40 PM: ETA to Barangay Tungkop, Minglanilla 4: 20 PM: ETA to Barangay Cogon, Naga (jump off point) 4: 35 PM: Start hike 5:20 PM: ETA Mt. Naupa campsite 6:00 PM: Explore Area 7:00 PM: Dinner 9:00 PM: Socials night 12:30 AM: Sleep Itinerary ( second day ) : 5:30 AM: Wake up time 6:20 AM: Arrange things 6:40 AM: ETD Mt. Naupa peak 7:20 AM: ETA Mt. Naupa peak 7:40 AM: ETD to jump off point 8:30 AM: ETA to jump off point 8:55 AM: ETA to Barangay Tungkop 9:20 AM: Naga Baywalk 10:00 AM: ETA South Bus terminal 11:00 AM: Home sweet home Katkatlogue: All pictures used are captured and edited by the Glomark Pahignalo. Go check his works! Once in a while, we yearn for a sweet escape from the busy and smoke-filled city life. Luckily for me, if I need to exhale pessimism, I have a team to condole with these unpleasant outlooks. We feed our insatiable sense of getting lost. In our recent weekend climb, it was our Nysse from #TeamKatkats who has scored information about the Lataban hills or also referred to as Triathlon Xterra. ( See map below ) With limited information about Lataban hills, we stepped into the unknown voyage, and like the usual “katkats”, we got lost, ( What’s new? ), but we are independent human being, so we somehow managed to reach the summit of the Lataban Hills. Nanay caretaker/owner of the land was very welcoming and she even offered us some refreshments and foods. If you plan to visit the said hills, always remember that there's no fee. Don't pay any entrance fees if the locals at the foot of the hills ask you for a charge ( that's what nanay said ).
Journey to the Chocolate Hills of Cebu: 8:00 AM: ETA to Rulls Bakeshop (Skina Bajak) 9:30 AM: ETD from Rulls Bakeshop to drop off point 10: 10 AM: ETA to Lataban’s Gym (drop off point) 10:15 PM: Start hike 11:00 AM: ETA Lataban Hills 11:30 AM: Explore Area 12:30 NN: Lunch with the locals 1:30 PM: ETD for Kan-insid Falls 2:30 PM: ETA Kan-insid Falls 2:50 PM: Depart from Kan-insid Falls 3:35 PM: ETA Lilo an City proper 3:45 PM: ETD to Parola 4:15 PM: ETA Parola 5:50 PM: Depart for Cebu city 6:30 PM: Home sweet home Katkatlogue: “Mama, dugay pa ta? sakit na akong tiil. Ngano nanguli paman tag Carcar, sa syudad nalang ta kay di pata maglakaw ingun ani ka layo.”
That’s my seven-year-old self-conversing to my mother. My mother grew up on the mountainous side of Carcar, I am not even exaggerating! In order to reach my grandparent’s abode, you need to endure more than an hour hike and it includes sharp rocks and river trekking. I have always thought that this hike was the hardest, but I concluded wrongly. "HI, CAN YOU DO ME A FAVOR? CAN YOU PLEASE PROOF READ MY DRAFT?"
YOU CAN FEEL THE LUMP ATTEMPTING TO RISE IN YOUR ESOPHAGUS. YOUR PLASMA STARTED TO BOIL AS YOUR FRIEND WATCHES YOU CLOSELY AND EXPECTING AN ANSWER FROM YOU. EXPECTING YOU TO CONFORM! EVERY NERVE FROM YOUR BODY IS SCREAMING NO, NO NO! BUT AS IF POSSESSED, YOU SMILED AND ANSWERED SWEETLY, "SURE! NO PROBLEM!" What is happening? Why can't you say no and just walk away? Everyone in this planet has some pleasing tendencies & at some point or another, we all have struggled with people-pleasing – of course, who doesn’t want people to like them? Who loathes positive feedbacks? Who does not want to make their parents proud? Who does not want to fit in? NO ONE, because we are social creatures! Growing up, I have this unsatisfying thirst to please everyone in order to feel a strand of belongingness, to feel loved and needed by others all the time. I spent my whole life with the struggle of saying no to every favor, and I live with the words, “I don’t want to be a bother,” and “I will compromise. Let’s do the ways that’s easier for you.” Like Oprah, I became a yes-woman. I did everything for everyone even if it left me unhappy and stressed out. Why? Why do we need to compromise and lie to ourselves just to please others? What is exactly people-pleasing and how can one avoid it? Instagam, facebook, tumblr, twitter, ask.fm – Internet is evolving right before our eyes and, we cannot possibly deny that social media became an astonishing part in the lives of the millennial cohort. If you don’t have accounts of any of these, you are considered as left out; and if you take a hiatus of using these accounts, you are months late of the “trend.” Crazy, right? But that’s how serious the social media affects the millennials.
There are pros and cons of using social media. But we’re not going to stress ourselves by digging deeper but instead, let’s give emphasis on its lighter side. The in-depth integration of social media into the lives of the majority of the millenials play an important role in the founding of friendships and the everyday peer relationships. As an active user of these social media accounts, there are some people whom I followed and interact with for years on facebook, twitter and especially on instagram. All throughout the years of communicating, we established a virtual friendship, understanding, and connection. "Where do broken hearts go?", a question being asked frequently by people. A question that has no answer and left a lot of individuals clueless- not until the movie, Camp Sawi was aired. The breakup-themed film, Camp Sawi answered the usual query - broken hearts are found in Bantayan Island! The screen name holds true because what's the best cure for a broken heart? A relaxing beach getaway! Bantayan, Bantayan! The place you go to heal. Though this is a personal blog, I wasn't given the chance to post much about my personal life here on the blog nor do I disclose my chaotic thoughts but now, I feel like it's about time to write something that's very millennial - and I also want to share my personal space and outlet. Take note that, I gave myself time and profoundly thought about the pros and cons of going public (because people might judge me). It took me some interval before I realized that maybe it's about time to open up, and be free with these deleterious and undesirable feelings draped up in my mind. This post isn't directed at anyone nor someone (insert song: bato bato sa langit), I wrote this blog post not just for my own good but also to help the ones who are struggling with feeling good about themselves. Let me start this personal entry by sharing one fact about me: I grew up feeling inferior because society wanted me to feel that way. I was deemed the ugly duckling in elementary years because I was born with a tan complexion - because in our traditional minded country, being white was tantamount to perfection, and being dark was synonymous to being ugly. I grew up with a lot of insecurities, and felt like I had an exaggerated physical deficiency (Psychology 104). I was verbally bullied, called names like negra, black cat, lagom, black ka cay, sunog, uling, etc and as a fledgling individual; it really had an effect on my self-confidence, self-esteem and on my ego. And because of those names being thrown to me, my young self was dying to have a paper white skin, so to achieve my desperate id and to meet society's standard; I applied a lot of whitening, beauty products and even whitening capsules. It even came to the point where I got scratches and red marks all over my body due to allergies but as you guys can tell, I still have the same complexion so none of them worked! It took me some time to give up and realize that I don’t need to meet society’s standard in order to fit in. I focused on my whole being and started to love myself and slowly accepted my flaws – to conquer your flaws, you must first accept them. I've also realized that God gave me this film because He knows that I can handle the criticisms well and slay the skin color. I am blessed with a skin that has always been envied and loathed so I no longer clamour for paper white skin - having a radiant and healthy skin is enough! I am Maria, the girl who once used to hate her brown complexion. Now, she accepts it, and the whole world accepts her. I hope my blog can inspire you to love yourself and be proud of whatever God has given you. Let’s embark a change and together let's be the best version of ourselves! #ProudMorena #ProudPinay
I know I have been MIA for a while now but here I am, I’m back! Live and in stereo! (shameless fangirling). I took advantage of the hiatus I had for a bit and really just focused myself in studying (Shout out to my sisters - I'm doing well so far). This quick blog post is generally for everyone who feels pressured, stressed, and those who were thinking of starting anew - I feel you! I've been there, done that! Two years ago, I failed a major subject from my previous pre-med course due to the lack of study habits so I'm feeling really motivated to share all the things I've learned in life. So once again, what I'm sharing you guys is a list of ways to improve your study habits and to slay school - which I think can help some of you. 1. Have the right attitude towards everything Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. I have read this bible verse so many times, especially when I am faced with difficulties in life. I remembered crying while reading this particular verse when I was baffled what to do after having a failing grade - but having a positive outlook in life changes everything! Human as we are, we always get disappointed and distressed when we fail, but in order to grow as an individual, you need to look back on the reasons why you failed- try not to do it again as much as possible, and make those failures your learning curve. And remember that you just need the right attitude in order to surpass all the challenges. 2. Be with the right people & Don't get involved with the wrong crowd No man is an island - every man is a piece of a continent and a part of the main. A famous quote from John Donne means that human beings do not thrive when isolated from others because each one of us needs a helping hand in order to survive. Early days in our college years, one of the reminders that our parents instilled in our mind is to don’t get involved with the wrong crowd! How do you know when your friends are healthy for you? Here are a few tips on deciding whether or not your friends are a good influence.
My beach lover self was aching for a picturesque and insta worthy place to enjoy the last days of the summer season . I was thinking of any resort in Mactan Lapu-lapu City because it's practical since it's just a two-hour ride from downtown Cebu and a thirty-minute ride from the Mactan Cebu International Airport. Coincidentally, my bestfriend called and invited me to celebrate her 18th birthday in Movenpick Hotel Mactan Cebu with her family - without hesitation I said yes.
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AuthorAn 18-year old frustrated storyteller, soul searcher, and a wanna-be writer. Born and raised in a humble town of Cebu in the Philippines & a Proud Cebuana-Ilocana. She's blogging for herself, her creative development, and for her chaotic thoughts to be heard. #TeamMorena Categories |