next stop: Apo Island

so i was in Apo Island. that was last feb 25 & 26. it was the next stop after dumaguete city.

from sibulan, where i met up with my diver-friends from Talisay, we moved to Malatapay, Zamboangita, NegOR, the jumpoff port to Apo. the travel time is about 30 mins by private car. since there are no public ferries in the area, we rented a boat to get us to the next island. estimated travel time from the port to Apo is 45 mins.

at around 1pm of feb 25, after being mercilessly rocked by the waves, we finally made it to Apo.


this is Liberty's Community Lodge. owned by Kap. Liberty. this is where you can rent a room and dive/snorkeling gear. on the second floor of this building is a resto.


this is at the back of the island, at the marine sanctuary. we dived here at 8am the next day. notice the waves. these are just small ones.

early morning of feb 26, second dive.

i would have loved to take photos of the giant corals or what they call the massive corals, i just didn't have a camera with me. tsk! but anyway, the others have taken time to get these (thanks!!).

here are some of the species seen at the island's sanctuary. =)



up next: Sumilon Island marine sanctuary.

first stop: dumaguete city (feb25,'09)

it was purely work for the first 5 hours we got there. and finally, we were free!

after our early supper (and watching slumdog millionnaire <--to be reviewed soon.), we started the trip. i am no longer an inconsistent environmentalist, so i insisted we just walked around.

it was already nighttime, and drizzling. then it rained for a few minutes. so we stopped at a nearby cakehouse to get something for snacks. i had a small white chocolate cake for myself which i bought for only P55. they also have coffee there. hmmm...i hope they would put up something like that in Talisay, best for latenight getaways.

we were back at the place we were staying before we knew it. and the next morning we were already catching our boat for our next stop: the Apo Island (photos to be posted soon), so we missed the sans rival house. tsk, tsk!

okay, i didn't bring any pasalubong, but above are the photos i took while in the city of happy people: NegOR provincial capitol, a resto and the baywalk.

more photos here.

me the painter ^^

2 hours for sketching and some tips from my "teacher" (that was on the first day i started it), 6 hours to seriously do it (last sat) and another 3 hours for the "finishing touches" (yesterday) that long! but as you can see, 11 hours of hard labor is paying off. or so i think. LOL

im just so proud. i think i can do nudes now. =D

special thanks to PETA for the subject; (yep, thats supposedly yasmin kurdi there, i just turned her into a manananggal); to aldo for the lessons (i need to learn more though); to my neighbors for keeping me up all saturday night bec of the disco (just dont do it everyday, utang buot!); and to myself for believing in myself (hahaha!)

more works to come. hopefully. ^^

4

this blog turns 4 next week, on friday the 13th. 4! with 444 posts already.

i just wish i could do more for (and with) you. more interesting posts (photos and vids of the hanging coffins, for one. can't wait!). and a great layout (with no ATOM thing!).

bertdi, blog! =)

estarbaks ta ig friday. pramis! ;)

City of God (a movie review)

Directors:Fernando Meirelles
Kátia Lund (co-director)

Cast:
Alexandre Rodrigues ... Rocket
Leandro Firmino ... Li'l Zé
Phellipe Haagensen ... Benny
Douglas Silva ... Li'l Dice
Jonathan Haagensen ... Shaggy
Matheus Nachtergaele ... Carrot
Seu Jorge ... Knockout Ned

The Plot: Gangsters killing one another. But this is a no non-sense film, it is even touching at some point.

Set in the 60’s in a ghetto of Rio de Janeiro, the film brings you to the lives of those people living in the slum, to their violent world: young armed thuds smashing other people’s properties to steal and their younger siblings watching them like heroes as they do it.

Then these younger fellows grow up to be just like their older brothers, who at this time, are already long dead.

Click here for the full review of this movie.

Special thanks: wengkat for the Ube Espesyal ice cream i had while writing the review. good luck sa diet. >.<


next movie review: Love in the Time of Cholera.

Barack Obama

i was one of those many Filipino people who stayed glued to the tv set the entire night to witness the 44th American President to be sworn in to office. that was actually the first time i watched an inauguration of a foreign leader, along with millions of other non-American citizens all over the world. sometimes, i helps being an insomniac. lol!

studio 23 gave a live coverage of the event, plus factual views and analysis of the historic ceremony from the anchors. well, except for ces drilon. with her stupid commentaries and questions, she was not helping the show at all. glad she left before the real event.

anyway, i already mentioned Obama in my march 2008 post. that was quite a long time ago. now he is the president of the most powerful country in the world.

with this new vigor America has now that it just welcomed its new leader without protest, it is possible change will happen, like Obama promised. that's america.

and this is the Philippines:


the flag above is from a tugboat used during the fluvial procession last saturday, jan17,'09. are we this poor already?