Omigosh, omigosh, OMIGOSH!!!

I will go back to work. I just need to get this out. I was just randomly looking for some German songs (based on hits) then stumbled upon Herbert Groenemeyer and then turned out he sang something for the 2006 World Cup!!!

This video is made of WIN!!! In the last few seconds, it showed some greats in football, the likes of Maradona, Pele, Zidane and Ronaldo.

Yay!!! Zizou's included!!! ^____^ I know I talk a lot about tennis but football is definitely one of my favorite sports. I may not have the patience to watch a game of every season of every European League but definitely, the most beautiful sport in the world! And hey, it was because of football that I started blogging anyway ^_~.

Tennis Tales: An Open Letter

Dear Service,

Serve, I’m going to start with you. I’ve been trying to understand you for so long it’s starting to get me frustrated. At first I thought I get you, then the next, it’s like we’ve never seen each other in the eye. The same thing goes with Toss—why is it going for the 12 o’clock sound so simple and yet I can’t do it consistently? Yes, reach the peak of the toss. Argh! And Snap—it’s like all of a sudden, my wrist becomes incapable of bending. Also, let’s not get started with Flat Serve—I mean, it looks so freakin’ easy and yet wrist insists on doing a spin.

Serve, I NEED to get you—CONSISTENTLY. You’re the only elusive aspect of the sport that’s keeping me from playing a serious game with the people in the tennis court.

- - - - -

Dear Forehand,

You’re weird. There are times that I feel you (and you look good when I do) but recently, I’m bugged by how you seem to look off (but coach said you’re not). Do remember that the sweet spot IS your best friend, not the racquet frame. And I will have a quiet talk with Semi-Continental grip—we’ve been getting it on lately and I think there’s a need to sort out things as to where we stand.

I look forward to our next meeting. Hopefully I can make you go down (the line) deeper ; ).

- - - - -

Dear Volley,

I say we are getting reacquainted, after getting used to switching grips for forehand and backhand volleys. Semi-continental and I are still working on Serve but somehow, I’m glad things are working out between the two of you. I hope to you use more of you soon. So far, I’m comfortable coming on to the net—if only I get the opportune time to meet up with Approach Shot.

I’ve always been comfy with you. Let’s try to keep it that way.

- - - - -

Dear Single-Handed Backhand,

I’m so happy to have formally met you and have somehow given justice executing you. I do miss your sibling, Double-Handed, and the extra control it brought along. But ever since we’ve worked together, it feels at home—even if I don’t brush up as I should or I do the backswing late. I’m yet to really feel how to use you on high bouncing balls but so far, we’re good.

Yeah, we’re good. Can’t wait to put more power on you.

- - - - -

Dear Footwork,

Remember when you stopped being flatfooted? Well, now is another time to remember others things. First, stop doing the open stance during Forehand—it’s f***ng it up. Second, right leg stays BEHIND when hitting forehands—stop acting like the right half of my leg has a separation anxiety when my left leg goes forward. Third, it’s okay to—no, actually, you SHOULD halt/break/pause before doing an approach shot and running shot.

You were hardly criticized that you sucked. Don’t start now.

- - - - -

Dear Running Shot,

I.Love.You. <3>

Destination Davao: Ready, Steady, GO!!! (Part 6 of 6)

In conclusion of the Destination Davao series, I present the last bit of detail of the big kids’ adventure. Six days passed by quickly and business and pleasure definitely merged in the process. Now it was time to head back.

I’ve always wanted to take a picture of Mt. Apo but throughout the trip, the view didn’t seem to cooperate. On the last day, I decided to go with what was there and took a couple of snap shots from our hostel’s balcony. I can’t just leave Davao without a mountain pic.

Here we were during and after breakfast. Do we look exhausted? ^^()

And here doing personal economics (Quiaps, 2008) to see just how much harder we need to work to earn back whatever we spent.

And here’s trying to pass as durian endorsers. Did we do a good job? LOL!!! This was on the way to the airport and because we really need to buy pasalubong, we stopped by here. If you’re wondering why there are very little pictures, well, it’s probably because exhaustion finally caught up with us. Upon arrival to Manila, we bid our farewells—not exactly dramatic because it’s a school day the next day. We would see each other again (and eventually get our USBs infected with viruses because of the pic uploading in the department computer).

So that’s Davao, my first local, airborne trip (yeah, yeah—so what if I know now that you don’t really need a passport for this kind of thing. I was a noob at local flights, ‘ayt!) I’m really glad I got to go and I’m looking forward to the next PAP Convention. ^_^ Oh, wait…that means we have to get our youth research to a higher level! D’oh! ^o^

Very special thanks to: Samah, Tweena, Patwik, Weeia, and Antwone for the pics!


FIN.

Destination Davao: Ready, Steady, GO!!! (Part 5 of ?)

After embracing land, we now turn to the sea. Based on my calculations, the island hopping destination was a one hour boat ride from the city port. It was through R’s friend, B, that this island hopping adventure came to be. Again, my apologies, as I have forgotten the specific names of the islands we hopped on ^^(). Er, let’s just see the pics.

This is us on the way to the island. Everyone who went to the jungle the day before looked pretty decent, right? (I admit, I was kind of sleepy ^^)

And we are at it again—posin’ time! There must be something about the sun, sea, breeze and FIVE cameras.

Since it did take a while to get to the first stop, T, A, R and S (wahaha, T-A-R-S!!! XD…hmmm, could be S-T-A-R or…RATS!!!! Okay, I’ll stop now…) decided to re-enact when Jack Sparrow became a girl and three pirate-wannabe-psychology-professors caught her (er, him?) using water bottles as weapons. Ahrrr, ma’teee!

There were three stops—first was the coral reef area (upper left) where everyone except mC and I went in for a dip. The second stop was in the middle of the sea, where everyone had lunch except me because I got incredibly nauseous and it took every single ounce of whatever concentrated power of will I had so I won't puke. Apparently, I don’t get sea sick when the boat is in motion, but if it halts and the bloody thing slowly sways at rest, I can’t swallow my food. Thankfully, when we began heading for the last stop, I actually re-enjoyed being out in the sea. We passed by a stretch of beaches before arriving at the last stop. Unfortunately, it was high noon and very hot so swimming had to be deferred for some, but for others (*ahem* R and T), conquering the elusive surfboard was top priority.

Now, I didn’t swim but that didn’t prevent me from getting a tan (like I played tennis when I actually didn’t ^^;). After getting some rest, S and I wondered off for photo ops and we ended up trespassing to this really cool smooth, white-sand beach just next to our stop. In the brimming hot afternoon sun, we took photos and posed.

And posed some more! Hahaha, is this emo or what?! LOL!!! Work it, work it!!!

It was fun and photo ops here was so easy, even if the only props were that log and a lone tree stump (that was initially intended as the base for S’ camera using a timer but we ended up using it as a posing pedestal instead). Man, the view here is just magnificent so can’t really blame me for being trigger-happy. ^-^

There were some interesting creatures in the area. If you like picking tiny seashells by the seashore *resists reciting the tongue twister*, well, try doing that when something prickly suddenly wiggles in your hand. Yep, turns out one of the shells I picked was ALIVE and this tiny dude came out. And yes, for a moment, I was tempted to pull it out of the shell to see what it looks like but sadistic mode was off so S and I just tried to get the best picture. Picking it up, putting on the table, click-click, picking it up AGAIN, click-click, it fell off the table on to the sand, we picked it up YET AGAIN, click-click, different angle, click-click…

So basically, yeah, I had a sinking feeling it felt kind of tortured anyways. Later on, I saw a whole bunch of them critters in this beach trash dump. I thought they were cute ^-^ especially this big white shelled one who hid on time before I was able to take a snap shot. Again, I wanted to grab it but it got away. ^^()

Now the starfish(es?) were found by T and R. This was before S and I went wandering off and T brought this really big and bright star fish in the hut where the rest of us were resting. I’m not even sure what’s the story behind this so…maybe they can fill it in?

By around we mid-afternoon, we began heading back. Here’s a couple of group shots before we left…

And here we are on the roof deck, pretending to be pageant delegates…(let’s not get into the details of what pageantry it was).

So I initially thought island hopping was exhausting. Well, maybe the more hardcore ones but this one turned out to be relaxing and worth spending the whole day for. Sans the second stop, I enjoyed every bit of the exploration—especially the ride to and from the island by boat—the wind, wave and speed.

The Davao adventure was coming to an end. This entry and those before it do not give justice to the spectacular panorama that graced us. Perhaps that would be in another entry under a different topic. For now, reality is starting to pull us back, waiting for us in a sphere called Manila. Stay tuned—it might actually end next time.


To Be Continued.

Destination Davao: Ready, Steady, GO!!! (Part 4 of ?)

Our Davao weekend was dedicated to close encounters with nature—and this is the first one, our adventures at Eden Nature Park. I’ll try to let the pictures do the talking.

After this was taken, the food disintegrated. Okay, fine—it was consumed appropriately, as we need all the energy we can get for what awaited us in the next several hours.

We decided to avail the tour package to upstart our nature tripping. Eden Nature Park is quite huge with plenty of things to do (that you usually have to pay for, anything free is rare these days). So, with the most economical choice, we went for the tour package with snack.

These were some of our stops, and unfortunately, I can’t really remember what they’re called exactly. ^^;;

Last time it was the fountain lights, THIS TIME, it’s the pweety, pweety flowers!!! We had a blast here—on top, I think these are daisies (O_o?) and on the bottom pic, it’s actually a wishing well filled with colorful gumamela flowers.

Of course, we just HAD to goof around with motion capture shots—it would’ve been nice if we were actually caught in midair. Really, we weren’t constipated here, or something.

Un-deux-trois-quatre!!! After the snack, this heart-love-nest area is just too good to pass up. For those who know me, this might not be the exact thing you would associate with me, but for the past few days exposed to people with characters of cam-whoreness and pose-whoreness (yes, S and R, I mean you guys), it kind of rubbed off on me.

A little bit of solo pics. The left one is actually taken during the mountain trail adventure, discussed below. The right one is during the tour.

So I mentioned that free things come rarely, but there was one free-of-charge adventure in Eden, and that was the mountain trail. We weren’t really planning on doing this—after all, it was slightly raining when we got to Eden and we were told that it was ‘not advisable’ at the time when we inquired. But because we were so awed with the sceneries during the tour and also because it never really occurred to us that ‘not advisable’ is a diplomatic way of saying “Absolutely-not! You-gotta-be-out-of-your-effin’-minds-wanting-to-plunge-in-the-depths-of-a-slippery-wet-mountain-terrain-on-your-own-in-this-weather!!!” (Hehe, we also FAIL at hip hop.)

Oh well, interpretations are relative. So off we go.

The whole trail adventure turned out really fun, anyways. Of course, with occasional minor and major slips here and there, shortness of breath and an epiphany that Crocs sandals can withstand slippery (sans muddy) trails, I thought it was really worth it. The entire trail seemed to vary in difficulty as one treks along—we noticed this because during the first kilometer or so, we were still lively and taking pictures. But once the slipping started, spiders and other bugs appeared and the trail disappeared coupled with obstructions, we knew that things were getting serious. A specific act I really liked during the trek was how we helped each other out by warning those behind what coming ahead of them (A, being generally in the lead, I salute you for embracing most of the cobwebs and other creatures on the path). It reminded me of ‘bayanihan’, but in a different way.

We found the ‘give up, surrender’ signs along the way to be amusing. US—give up? Are you effin’ kidding?! HAH! We don’t give up. We stick through our guns no matter what! When we make our beds, we lie on it. We went on, thinking of nothing but the finish line, the end of the tunnel, the ultimate goal…keep walking for there is no turning back.

Um, we didn’t finish the trail. -__-()

But it’s not because we were uber exhausted…well, sure, we were tired and all but c’mon—the rain got heavier! T called for back up and the next thing, we were zooming back to the Day Tour Center via the Tourmobile! (Ahh~ such a nice ride… ; ). We fell a third short of completing the trail but each of us were able to bring bits of memories from that adventure—like I had photos, my uber muddied Adidas and a scar. Now if you think that was the end, you’re mistaken. Much as we are determined individuals, we are also hard-headed, stubborn and really adventurous—so after the mountain trail, off to zip line Skyrider adventure! I’m not good at approximations so according to this, there is about 200-meter distance between the two ends of the zip line across a 60-foot drop. The ride is two-way, with the whole thing lasting for maybe two minutes. It’s PHP 150 and they make you sign a waiver—like they will claim responsibility if you break a nail or something. Climbing to the top of the tower can be exhausting (but hell, we’ve been through harsher conditions than this MINUTES ago, so this was cake walk). After that, it’s zip time!

YEAH, BABY!!! It was scary, exhilarating and relaxing at the same time. When you’re in the middle of the line, the view is simply amazing. And it was rather fast, maybe around third gear if you’re driving a manual (so that’s what, 30-40 kph?). I wouldn’t mind doing this again. ^_^

Next post will be about the island hopping, which happened the very next day. Stay tuned.


To Be Continued.

Destination Davao: Ready, Steady, GO!!! (Part 3 of ?)

After the convention, it was time for some unwinding and sightseeing. It’s funny since after reviewing the massive amount of pictures we got, it looked like the point of going to Davao was about the sightseeing and the convention as a side trip, hehe. This is not in any chronological order, by the way.

People’s Park

This is where we went after the arrival dinner at Penongs. It was P’s idea—well, actually, I learned that way afterwards because at the time, I was just going along wherever everyone’s going. This park is soooo pretty. It’s big, there’s a lot to see, it’s clean and for it’s ambiance, it’s amazingly free-of-entrance-charge! Photo ops everywhere and while it’s not jam-packed, there were a lot of park-goers, combine that with how big the place was, it was a little scary to get separated from your groupies.

Speaking of separations, there were some lessons learned here, too. Like when you’re in a big place like this and you need to go to the rest room, always remember to do the next appropriate thing afterwards (I mean, right after washing your hands), and that is to at least know, and not just assume, where the rest of your groupies are. Next, in retrospect, PMS can be used as a moderating variable in testing relationships and cognitions—you just need to orchestrate the proper context. Finally, synchronized fountains and pretty lights can be mesmerizing and can be addicting to photograph, with possible dire consequences.

Speaking of fountains and lights, see how pretty they are! *___*

And from a different angle…pweeetttyyyy!!!

Before heading back to Bahay Alumni, we decided to take a group shot of whoever we we’re with at the time. See in the first panel, we’re just experimenting and all until we got the hang of it. Then with poses ready, we stood still and SMILE! *snap shots*

Yes, we were smiling while taking pictures of our shadows. Go figure.

Jack’s Ridge

We went here after the convention, right after dinner. It was highly recommended so we thought might as well give it a try. The road to Jack’s Ridge, was quite long. We took a cab and it was a pretty smooth ride, if only there were street lights along the way, it would’ve been less creepy at times. But I bet it would have a different feel when one drives in the morning. I can’t help comparing it to Makiling, maybe it can have street racing potential ^_^. Anyway, reviews say it’s like a cross between Eastwood and Tagaytay.

Well, okay, I’m speaking for myself but I was really looking forward to the sceneries—lights overlooking the city, but there was something about the landscaping that either made the lights-overlooking-the-city photo ops to be difficult or limited. The place was really spacious and you get to really burn some calories going to one place to another. There was an amphitheatre, which was, just that, an empty space that I didn't even bother to take a picture of (hehehe, the school’s mini amphitheatre is more picture-friendly). There was a potential lights-overlooking-the-city spot near the amphitheatre—I thought it was nice, how there were aligned so well; P thought it was some kind of a race track…only later on to be confirmed by T that it was…a cemetery. (Okay…my imagination can get into overdrive so I just had to delete the picture I took of that spot, LOL! The pic above, I'm sure that's cityscape : )

There were nice displays though, and the fact that this elevated area was submerged underwater in the past was fascinating. There were some resto-bars (which I suppose if you’re purpose for going to Jack’s Ridge is for this varied context of a night life, instead of lights-overlooking-the-city-and-other-photo-ops, then it could be a good place) on the area and some coffee shops. We went to Karlo’s Coffee Station to cap the night off. The strawberry short cake and rocky road drink thing I had were great!

This time, Carlo, er, Docta Carlo, tagged along with us ^_~. His appetite never cease to amaze me—had another round of sweets just to accommodate eating with us, awwww. He was such a sport for sticking it through the Jack’s Ridge rendezvous even if the terrain wasn’t exactly Carlo-friendly (if you know him, you’ll know why) and couldn’t join in some of the photo ops (which was fine, IMO, since he didn’t miss much—he just had to wait…SORRY!).

Gap Farm

In lieu of the Philippine Eagle place (WAAAHHHH! I wanted to see the really big birds T_T…enough, jennai—move on…), we went here after the adventure from Eden Nature Park (different post). Another huge place, a park that would probably be a venue for grade school field trips. Beside R is Z, who went with us during the whole day nature trip.

It’s not really an amazing place. Like I said, it’s a big park—the Bayani, Tribo and Animal busts/statues displays are at most mediocre-looking. The place was bare (well, it was past 4PM and it closes by 5) so we have the whole place to ourselves. It could might as well look like there’s practically nothing to do—but no, there was time to squeeze some fun out of posing with the resident inhabitants of Gap Farm. So yup, if you’re looking for a place to test your posing abilities in a seemingly neutral environment, try Gap Farm and see how good you can be.

Banoks and Dampa

This was dinner at Banoks after a day of nature tripping. Banoks is the counterpart of Penongs as they are both barbecue restaurants. Some new characters are in the Banoks picture, beside Z is mC, followed by T2. I honestly don’t remember much of the conversation that went around here but I’m sure mC and T2 had their share of listening to how our nature tripping went. I guess I was too tired by then. ^^;

The picture on the right was taken after our island hopping adventure (different post). We ate at this restaurant near the beach, where you order fresh seafood and they cook it for you. R’s friend B joined us, with her niece, Sop. B was the one who helped out plan the island hopping adventure and recommended the place for dinner. Food was good. (t’hell…? That rhymes!)

Blu Gre

Last major stop of the trip. After the dampa dinner, it’s coffee time and B brought us here. Not bad though, their cakes were good (courtesy of S, yay!). It’s been a long weekend and we’re gearing up for pack up for departure the next day.

Next posts will be about the highlight trips of the Davao get-away—nature tripping and island hopping! Stay tuned.

To Be Continued.