Twists and Turns of 2011

Sa totoo lang, nawala sa isip kong gumawa ng year end post. Pa-busy effect ako kahit 9-day holiday vacation ako sa work. Kakainis lang, company shutdown tapos forced leave? Walang kwenta.. Tapos sira pa tong letter "o" sa keyboard ko.. Haay buhay. #TantrumeraReyes ^_^

At dahil kakauwi ko lang from Palaui kahapon, struggle mode ako ngayon to make this year end post. Looking back, ansarap balikan ang mga memorable trips & the good and bad times of the year 2011.


January. First thing I did was I got myself a life insurance. I need extra protection for my family and for myself, in case something happened. What's more convincing is that this life insurance comes with an investment plan. Added savings, right?

matapang ang may life insurance

Right after I got insured, I secretly went to Batad, along with Toto and Jen, and 2 French girls. The trek was a torture, but considering the view, the strangers I met, and the lessons learned - all of these made the trip very much worth it. And hey, we've got our own share of our isolated case in Batad.

dont tell my mother what happened in Batad

February. Dom, Gael, and I finally got the chance to travel together for the 1st time. Super fun trip. Reaching the creepy submerged town of Mapanuepe just became the bonus. This should have been my entry to "Travel is the Destination", last month's blog carnival.

sailing thru a submerged village in Lake Mapanuepe

One of the few things that can convince me to go to a crowded place is to watch a fireworks competition. February marks the much awaited pyromusical event at MoA. Simply magical.

baby, you're a firework ♥

Another worth mentioning is that I accidentally did a memorable photo walk with the ex-bf in Luneta. This blog post made it to the Philippine Blog Awards. Naks!

literal na photo walk

March. The favorite activity I tried this year - scuba diving in Balicasag. The beauty of the underwater world took my breath away.

the day i discovered scuba diving

An unplanned trip to CWC along with my co-nocturnal girl friends Nina and Dyanie came next. Wakeboarding is really fun yet exhausting. Instead of trying to be a pro, we settled in a good spot and killed time by watching the experts. It's raining sexy men all over the place! =)

eat ○ sleep ○ wake ○ board

April. Another item in my 2011 Checklist was done as I made an SSS Loan for the 1st time. I'm P13,350 richer! Not bad. Ü

my 1st SSS salary loan cheque

On the other hand, my friends for life spent our summer in La Union. Everyone excelled in riding the waves. I guess surfing is easy for us who live in the flooded areas of Malabon, Valenzuela, and Bulacan. ^_^ This is also the trip where I didn't bring any camera with me. Thanks to my friends who took my photos.

effortless surfing in La Union

May. My close friend Rem and I once again visited Puerto Galera, but this time we preferred a beach farther to the party and the crowd. We're glad to found Talipanan beach.

Talipanan, Puerto Galera

Another balikbayan from New York came home and I accompanied him to Calaguas. The weather was very fine at first, but as the night comes, the rain poured hard. Having no proper shelter, we had no choice but to let the rain pour on our body. Ang ginaw sobra. That scary moment made us prayed hard. After 2 hours of agony in the rain, God has finally gave us a good weather. A rainbow after the rain.

rainy summer night in Calaguas

June. A traumatic welcome to the island of the Balinese - Dyanie and I were accused as drug traffickers only because we're Filipinas! Sad truth and a lot of lessons learned.

i never imagined this case would be featured in the radio, newspapers, tv, and even in the official gazette of the Philippines. thanks to everyone who showed concern.

Nevertheless, I tried to enjoy the Bali trip despite of how the officials in the airport treated us. Balinese culture is really rich, Hinduism never fail to heighten my curiosity.

island of the Balinese

Equally stunning are the infrastructures and mesmerizing nightscapes in Singapore. The airport and train system are very efficient. Quite expensive country but obviously the progress is very evident.

Singapore is a fine city

July. Because of the trauma, I cancelled my flights to El Nido and Dumaguete. I dont want to see the airport yet. =( Anyway, I quit my job last June and signed a contract in a company at The Fort. I welcomed myself back to being a normal person, hello morning shift! Ang hirap. Until now Im wishing I can work at night instead.

my 5th job in 4.5 years
up to date, di ko na mabilang ang madaming 2 bottles session after work ^_^

August. Being a newly hire means kelangan magpa-good shot. Wala pa din akong leaves so I opted to have staycations and splurge at hotel buffets on weekends. Ü

list of hotel staycations and buffets I tried this 2011
Sambo Kojin ○ Manila Hotel and Cafe Ilang-Ilang Buffet ○ Sofitel and Spiral Buffet ○ Vikings MoA ○
Basix at Dusit Thani ○ Discovery Suites ○ 7 Corners Buffet ○ Lancaster Suites ○ Marriot Buffet ○ Misibis Bay ○ Midas Hotel

September. Opened a joining trip to Anilao for my readers. The underwater world may not be as gorgeous as Bohol or Coron, but this trip became memorable because of the bonding with the girls.

snorkeling in Anilao

October. Finally experienced one of the world class festivals in our country - Bacolod's Masskara. The energy, dedication, and effort of every barangay who performed were enough to make my 3-hour wait under the sun and the rain worth it.

Masskara Festival 2011

Before going home, we made a day trip in the nearby province Guimaras and explored its mystical caves and beaches.

sunkissed in Guimaras

November. For Rem's birthday, we flew to Legazpi and had a day tour in the luxurious resort of Misibis. And by now, you surely knew the hits and misses of Misibis Bay.

hits and misses of Misibis Bay

And a trip to Legazpi wont be complete without giving the majestic Mayon a visit. Had fun doing fun snapshots behind Mayon's peak.

fun snapshots at Cagsawa Ruins

December. Everyone in the family freaked out when they saw the blood clot in my eye. Because of this, I looked like a drug addict for a week. LOL

subconjunctival hemorrhage

And among all the trips I organized this year, this one's the most challenging yet fulfilling. Our group JGC held a Christmas outreach with the abandoned lola's at Bahay ni Maria. We never thought partying with the old age people would be much more fun.

party at Bahay ni Maria

And as a year end trip - I organized a trip to Palaui, an island found in the northeastern of Luzon. Along with 5 solo female joiners, we braved the waves then survived the 5-hour trek in a muddy trail using our bare feet. Despite the hardships, this trip became a great experience for everyone. (blog post to follow)

barefoot trek towards Palaui island

365 days full of twists and turns. Im very thankful for every safe and action-packed trip, every person I met, everyone who I traveled with, every experience I overcome, every lesson and realization I learned, and every dream that I still wanted to pursue day by day. Im very much looking forward for another fruitful year ahead.

I'd like to thank those 823 email subscribers, 616 Google followers, and every avid reader na halos kabisado na ang details ng buhay ko. LOL Thanks for appreciating my blog. I promise to still write feel good and funny entries next year. Hugs everyone! ♥


Btw, I created a twitter account at last. Please follow me and I'll surely follow you back. Thanks! http://twitter.com/#!/chyngreyes