"We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us."
-Unknown

Thursday, 15 November 2018

Destination Diary: Sta. Cruz Island



Being Zamboangueno, I can’t help feeling a bit proud to say that we live next to one of National Geographic’s 21 Best Beaches in the World.

Of all the beaches in the Philippines as well as the planet, our very own Sta. Cruz Island made it to the shortlist of the Top 21. It landed a sweet spot in the 15th, not bad for being there with the other gorgeous beaches from England, Seychelles, Cambodia and even North Carolina.

Because of the crushed red corals mixed in with the fine, powder white sand, the beach from afar reflects a pink tint and is widely dramatic come sunset. It’s only one of a handful pink, sand beaches in the country, and for someone living in Zamboanga, I can’t express how lucky we were to be invited to spend the night there summer of this year. I invited Michelle to come along and on such short notice, she agreed.

Overnight Stay in the Village

We’ve always talked about coming over for a while now. I’ve visited before, but my day trips were always limited to the swimming area. Spending the night meant seeing the village and cruising through the lagoon. On a long weekend, we finally met up with our former boss who is enjoying retirement life and then hopped on a short boat ride and headed straight to the village.



One advantage is that our former division chief has a home in the village, which she generously allowed us to stay in. together with her family and friends from work, we occupied their house and had a hearty lunch right in front of the beautiful shores of the island.





After lunch, we went on a visit to the lagoon where we rode on yellow boats and experienced leisurely rowing around, looking at lazy jellyfish, standing on sandbars and spotting blue starfish, bats and sea grapes which I reminiscingly called “small grapes” when I was younger. Locally, they are known as latu.



No starfish were harmed in the capture of this photo

Sandbar in the lagoon on a low tide

Sea grapes from the lagoon are a rich source of iodine
After our lagoon cruise, we went on a stroll to the only village school for a short while amidst the white sand all over the island. The locals were surprised to see a group of “mainlanders” walking about, but we were told that most of the villagers are related, so that makes them one big family in a way.

Michelle's New Career
 




After dinner that night, we were sitting on the shore, looking at the city with its lights. We could hear the sounds from Paseo del Mar and the gentle breeze from the ocean was slightly humid. Some of our companions brought a tent and camped outside right there on the shore, while we occupied the floor of the house’s living room.

View of Zamboanga City from Sta. Cruz's Shores 
While on the island, we got to experience the unplugged life, although there was cellular signal for communication, we got to see that most villagers relied on solar powered lamps and drinking water was a scarcity. With the help of motorboats, almost anything from the city can be delivered to the villagers at any time of the day.

The Swimming Area

The next morning, we headed on to the swimming area after breakfast, which was swarming with tourists and visitors because it was summer. Here’s where we played the board game that I brought, Monopoly Ultimate Baking, where I eventually lost to my friends.



Accessories for sale are somewhat a cottage industry on the island
Swimming Area features the I Love Zamboanga standee
Monopoly Ultimate Banking

After our quick and simple lunch, we paid a quick visit to the sandbar (which only shows up during low tide) and then finally docked back in the boulevard as we concluded our overnight stay.


Clarifications

To answer a few questions, the swimming area is the only portion where tourists are allowed to spend the day and is managed by the City Tourism Office. Only a limited number of visitors is allowed to regulate the ecosystem of the island.

We were invited by the family already living on the island for an overnight stay so arrangements were made months before we departed for the island.



To be honest, I consider myself lucky to have this story to share, because not a lot of visitors get to spend the night on the island unless they were born there or have stayed as a local all their life. But what makes this experience special is that it’s spent with good friends on one of National Geographic’s 21 Best Beaches in the World.  




Thursday, 25 October 2018

ZC Had Its Very First Planner Meet…




And only five people showed up, not including our escorts LOL.  


         
So in our group messenger alone, we all decided and picked on the venue to meet in. We settled on Third Cup Café in LM Hotel, Tetuan. We also brought small gifts to share with our new friends.

It was an afternoon of getting to know and also working on our journal pages, planners and simply getting messy.


As for food, we ordered snacks like cheesecake, nachos overload and coffee to munch while waiting for the glues and glitters to dry on our creative projects.

We spent hours and hours talking and crafting and before heading on home, piled all our planners and notebooks to take a photo of our obligatory (?) planner tower.


Even if we know that crafting can be a bit messy, we did clean up after so that the café can allow us to come back when we shall decide to meet again in the future.


I came home with gifts from new friends and I also hope they enjoyed the ones that I brought too. It was a good experience and I hope to be a part of the next one, hopefully with more members too. 

Tuesday, 9 October 2018

It’s Planner Season….



And that means that I’m already in the market for next year’s planner.

Ever since I’ve entered the corporate world, I’ve listed all my activities and schedules in a planner because I can’t afford to miss a deadline. Time management is the key to surviving. All the more, I need to be better at it because I’m also in school.

I use a planner for work, school and sometimes blog activities and I’ve learned a thing or two about balancing all my activities.

It’s sort of become my standard procedure to look at planners that work for me at the end of the year and to scout and save up for the ones that I want to buy. It’s sort of my year-round companion so it’s worth the purchase. For this year, I went with the Best Things Are Yet To Come Mini Happy Planner. Because I also used it for brain dump and as a budget planner (occasionally a travel planner), I also write my thoughts on filler paper that I ordered online from Saffy Tenten. Because it became bulky, I also got the rose gold expander discs and that served me well throughout the year.

And as 2019 comes closer, I’m slowly going through my Mini Happy Planner and I’m also finishing its pages. Later on, it will sit on my shelf and join the other planners that have kept me company in the years prior.

It also means that I’m hunting for next year’s planner as early as now.

I’ve narrowed down the choices to two: the DYL Planner which I think will be helpful for school, and the MAMBI Classic which will be useful for work and other commitments, especially travel plans and budget. Other planners made it to the shortlist, but I’ll discuss the details later on.


Photo from Design Your Life Planner 2019



I thought that I might give the DYL Planner a chance for next year. I was drawn into it because of the fun design, and because it has travel planner pages. Not only that, there are a bunch of helpful sections there as well, like finances and goals. As an added bonus, there’s a bunch of new accessories to match it with too. 


Accessories to match it with:

sticker book (Php 450)
coffee dessert clear stamps (Php 725)
gold foil leaves wide washi (Php 190)
vaporwave sticker flakes (Php 120) 



Classic MAMBI Planner for Work


I’ve used the Mini Happy Planner and I thought of giving the Classic size a try because of the bigger writing spaces and because I write a lot. I have this habit of dumping all my thoughts all at once in a given day, and because with what I do, details matter all the time.

I’m torn between the Mermaidesque and New Adventure in Classic size because I tend to gravitate towards mermaid designs and of course, anything that is travel inspired will definitely get my attention and keep me fantasizing for the next destination to visit.

Photo from Michaels Stores 
Mermaidesque

The Mermaidesque design is all about foiled details on a lovely color scheme of blue, purple and pink. I’m not sure though it the vertical layout will work for me as I’m used to the horizontal layout. So I went and searched some more in Michaels and found the pretty design in blues and violets. 

Photo from Michaels Stores

New Adventure

This design is for those bitten by the travel bug and I’ve thought of settling on this design to make use of all the travel-inspired stickers that I’ve received this year, while planning for the next escape. I thought of filling it up with filler paper for all those diary entries and then some project pages as well. The tricky part is checking and comparing rates and how to get the best deals from sellers here. 



Accessories to match it with:

Puncher (Php 920)
Sticker books (Php 850)
Happy Notes Fill Paper (Php 320)
Dot Grid Fill Paper (Php 320) 

Photo from Sheila Mae Ruiz on Facebook 

Starbucks 2019 Japan Planner


The 2019 Starbucks Japan version also caught my eye, because you know me, if anything has anything to do with mermaid, I’m down. I see that it can be a good school planner, besides school for me is all about preparing outputs and reports for class discussions and complying with requirements, so I don’t need that much extra pages for a school planner. However, I wouldn’t want to spend for drinks and collect stickers just to claim a planner because there’s no Starbucks branch in Zamboanga City and I’m lactose intolerant (LOL #sorrynotsorry) hahaha. Also, I know that there are people who hoard planners and price them insanely high as New Year comes closer. So I won’t be caught in the rush though.

So there, yeah. I’m going to save for my choice planners and then make the plunge before the year ends and so that I can set it up before officially welcoming 2019.

How about you? What are your planner picks for 2019? 

Review: Staedtler Triplus Fineliner 10’s


Who would have thought that I’d be writing about these babies years after I’ve had them?

To be honest, I reserved this set only for the special art projects. I knew that these were kind of hard to replace because I got them through special order only, I think back in 2012-13 (?).

With enough use, I can share my thoughts about them with you:


Pros
  • Fine tips for small writing spaces
  • Triangular body shape makes control easy
  • Ink flows continuously!
  • That being said, colors are pigmented and this is quite impressive too
  • Case is multi-functional, it can stand on its own and give easy access to the pen colors you wish to use
  • Dry Safe feature means the pens can be left uncapped for a number of days without drying up (but I haven’t done so yet)
  • Slim and convenient, can be brought anywhere for those doodling activities
Cons 
  • 10 colors only, can be limiting
  • Not readily available here
  • A bit pricey for me ($12.75)

I like that they can be packed in travel with no sweat, plus ten slim colors for writing on traveler’s notebooks can do wonders. Even if I’ve had this set for years, I can still use them up to many more because of their long-lasting ink and usability. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of these.

What are your favorite pen liners? Do you own a similar set? Share your thoughts in the comment box so that we can start a discussion, and I’ll post a series about my traveler’s notebooks soon.

Postcards From Pamucutan: Raisie’s Tips For Writing Postcards (The Virtual Ones At Least)



Before I share with you how I write my postcards, let me first explain to you how I send them.

It started with my friend A who proposed that we keep in touch through old-fashioned pen and paper. I willingly agreed being the pen and paper junkie that I am. But we feared that our letters would take weeks to arrive through the Post Office and utilizing other express couriers would hurt the budget. And so we maintained writing letters mostly about catching up and sent them through scanning the letters and uploading them through FB messenger.

For the first couple of letters, I wrote on good, old-fashioned stationery and envelope. I also used Project Life cards once. But I thought of designing my own postcards and printing them out and have used them ever since- at least for A because I still write J the usual letters. These postcards I’ve sent over I collectively called Postcards From Pamucutan. I’m compiling them for when until A pays a visit back home.

I was doing a bit of research before writing this post and I found Charles Simic’s post on The Lost Art of Postcard Writing. I’d really like for you to read it and I promise there’s an interesting sample there.

So now that’s out of the way, I have a few tips to share with you.


1. Choose a postcard with a design full of character 

We all know the regular touristy-postcards which is common here in the Philippines but believe me, the unique designs are the ones that can make your recipient react unexpectedly. These are the more memorable ones too. 

2. Write on scratch paper/ start a draft

Begin a draft on scratch paper. If your penmanship is small or if you are comfortable with a .3mm pen, you can write long sentences or until three paragraphs of two sentences each. If you have big-spaced penmanship, you can adjust your message when you transfer it on your postcard. Also keep it neat and clean! 

3. On the writing style 

This is what makes your postcard quite unique, and it’s your personal message to the recipient. The most basic ones are of course, the weather, what you did, etc. But if there’s one piece of advice I can share with you, it’s going to be write the way you speak. There are times when I can hear my friends from their letters and it makes me miss them so much more. So this is your chance to pop, let your writing style speak! 


4. Don't forget the address 

Even if I’m sending my postcard virtually, I still like to see my postcard filled up and complete (even if it means I made the address up LOL) such as calling A’s apartment Hitler’s Tower. But if you’re sending them by post, make sure the address is complete.

 5. As for stamps

I have to admit that I’ve eliminated this portion because I send my postcards to A virtually. But I still like to try to send him a postcard just to see how long it will take, and for him to keep the postcard and the stamp. But because I am a person obsessed with all the writing accessories and stationery, I am now looking for washi and sticker flakes with stamps especially the vintage designs. 

Here’s a hint, if you can’t find whimsical and quirky postcards, you can design your own and print them out yourself. I might introduce the tools I have to you if you’re interested. 

My friends and I have started combining the analogue method of writing to each other in lieu of the instant-messenger chats and this is how we make the old-school and the modern meet.


Do you have any tips on writing postcards you’d like to share? Don’t be shy and leave me a comment! 

Sunday, 7 October 2018

Destination Diary: Cagayan de Oro


We sort of have a hangover from CDO. We’re even talking about going back before the year ends. I mean, CDO is always there but still seems so far away. CDO is always our second home, because there’s family left and right, it’s safe and I know the city very well. There are always grandmothers, aunts, cousins and uncles happy to see us, sometimes invitations for lunch, dinner and whatnot never end.

I don’t kid when I say that the City of Golden Friendship can take pride in food (hello, cowboy country), sweet smiles and courteous people. Besides, CDO is like a touchdown for steak, ham, baby back ribs, scrumptious desserts and salads.

When we were kids there were always places to roam around in; my childhood had so many stories involving being chased by geese in some uncle’s farm, mishaps on a relative’s lawn, being peed on by an orangutan while seeing the circus, and so on. Every single time we’re in town, something funny is bound to happen. But we keep coming back, for as long as there’s family and food involved. 
 


If On A Road Trip, Enjoy Lechon By The Seaside In Timoga, Iligan

One advantage of going on a road trip is having full control of time and deciding which stops to take. By the long stretch of Iligan’s seaside in Timoga, there are restaurants selling lechon by the kilo, fish and stews. Here’s where we pull up in time for lunch, dig into grilled fish and puso (steamed rice wrapped in coconut leaves) and eat with our hands. If only one can indulge in a siesta after such a hearty lunch by the seaside, but there’s still miles to cover before finally arriving in….



…S&R, Where Else?

Because my parents have a membership card and the giant pizza is not to be missed, the shopping can be either the first order of business or not. You know I’m always into ice cream but I’m very much aware that I can’t take the freezer home.




Mommy strikes a pose but my Dad's thoughts are obviously elsewhere
Seven Seas Waterpark

Just passing by the parking lot, we already heard screams coming from the park and C and I glanced at each other. But we were there to enjoy the place, so we went on to see what it’s like to experience Seven Seas Waterpark with a splash.

C had stories to tell after trying out that insane capsule drop and the four-story slide. Yes, let me repeat that: four stories. I can personally only tolerate the kiddie pool but for the braver ones, you can go on ahead and jump off. The park has a café, restaurant and lots of picnic tables surrounding the pools and slides, the environment is clean. It’s best to be early and to maximize the time in Seven Seas.




High Ridge Restaurant

It takes guts to get to high ridge in a car, I’ll tell you that. Because the road is steep and there's no concrete yet!

But one can be rewarded with good food and a view of the city at sunset in High Ridge Restaurant. It’s a place to enjoy some quiet family time, have some blueberry cheesecake (C’s all-time favorite) and then look through the coin-operated binoculars with a 5-peso coin.





Don't mind these guys, they aren't even drunk.... 
Bigby’s Baby Back Ribs

I can say that C has good eyesight because he spotted Bigby’s from a distance, and we’ve gone back to Bigby’s for lunch ever since. I have to admit that it’s love at first sight for me with baby back ribs and make it a point to enjoy it every time we’re in CDO. It’s like an unwritten obligation to allow yourself to indulge in this helping of baby back ribs, and it feels like a holiday.




Divine Mercy Hills

Fresh from the island paradise of Camiguin, we headed on to Divine Mercy Hills and to join the many Catholic devotees in prayer of the huge Sacred Heart of Jesus in El Salvador. There were processions left and right, and it was a solemn afternoon for all.





Looking back, it seems like all we did in CDO was eat.

But I have no regrets. We caught up with family, took a break from work and then went on to experience Camiguin.

Right now, CDO is still in our subconscious, we’re thinking of going back but trying to find the right time because despite all of the things that we did the last time we were there, I still want C to experience the adrenaline-rush side of CDO and to visit Bukidnon. 

Well, knowing my family, we’re a bunch of indecisive people who just might be enabled one way or the other. Ciao!